Exploring teachers' perceptions of children's imaginative writing at home

This study explores an area of writing that has been largely neglected – children’s imaginative writing at home. In an educational climate dominated by the standards agenda and top‐down directive discourses, this study draws inspiration from children who are creating opportunities for writing themselves and are developing agency through their writing at home. The positive approach to reading advocated in Margaret Clark’s (1976) seminal work on ‘young fluent readers’ has been very influential. Rather than reporting what children are unable to do, Clark explored the early experiences and home setting of competent pre‐school readers, posing the question: what can they teach us? Taking this lead, one of the premises of this study is that we should similarly seek to understand the experiences of young competent writers so that we can learn more about children who choose to write of their own volition outside of school. This paper presents the findings of the preliminary phase of an ongoing doctoral study. Drawing on questionnaire data, it specifically focuses upon Year 5 and 6 teachers’ views of children’s imaginative home writing, exploring problems of identification and teachers’ perceptions of their pupils as imaginative writers at home.     

Broadening the lens: an investigation of student teachers' changing perceptions of pedagogy following a teaching placement in a primary school in mainland Europe

This paper presents the findings of an investigation of student teachers' changing perceptions of educational practice following a teaching placement in France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Up to 900 primary languages, student teachers annually have spent a 4-week teaching placement in a partner country as an integral part of their initial teacher education programme. The aims of the bilateral experience were to improve students' subject knowledge as well as to offer opportunities to enhance their professional understanding through comparing practice in two distinct cultural settings. This study draws from both qualitative and quantitative data gathered from 122 postgraduate certificate in education student teachers who were following the primary language route at Canterbury Christ Church University and Liverpool Hope University. The findings show that through reflection and analysis of the differences and commonalties in the diverse cultural contexts, students develop a greater understanding of their professional role and a deeper insight into their own values and beliefs about pedagogy. Their acceptance of taken-for-granted norms is challenged during the bilateral placement, as they encounter new approaches to differentiated learning, teaching and learning strategies and teacher/pupil relationships, thus enhancing their levels of critical engagement with educational practice.     

小学中年级作文教学尝试

通过多种途径引导学生积累写作素材,加强对学生作文方法的指导,从而提高学生的写作兴趣和写作能力。     

Making inter-disciplinary spaces for talk about and change in student writing and literacy development

This paper discusses the role of a writing centre in creating spaces for talk about and change in disciplinary writing pedagogy. It asks how collaborative partnerships between disciplinary academics and Writing Centre practitioners might be established and nurtured sustainably. Drawing on insights from two collaborations with academics in political studies and law, the article asserts that writing centre practitioners play a valuable role in talking about and changing the way academic writing and literacy is taught in the disciplines. This is shown by working consistently with the understanding that critical reading, thinking and writing are literacy acts rather than generic skills and must therefore be learned and practiced in the disciplines. By supporting disciplinary academics in re-examining course outcomes, materials and assessments, and moving away from a ‘skills approach’ to writing, it is shown that building discipline-specific spaces for writing and literacy development is possible through these collaborative partnerships.     

Using rubrics in student self-assessment: student perceptions in the English as a foreign language writing context

The instructional value of rubrics for promoting student learning and aiding teacher feedback to student performance has been extensively researched in th educational literature. There is, nonetheless, a dearth of studies on students’ rubric use in second/foreign language contexts, and fewer studies have investigated the factors affecting rubrics’ effectiveness for promoting student learning. The paper reports a classroom-based inquiry into students’ perceptions of rubric use in self-assessment in English as a Foreign Language context and the factors moderating its effectiveness. Eighty students at a Chinese university participated in the study. The data collected included their reflective journals and six case study informants’ retrospective interviews. Results showed that the rubric was perceived as useful for fostering the students’ self-regulation by guiding them through the stages of goal-setting, planning, self-monitoring and self-reflection. Both within-rubric and rubric-user factors were identified as affecting the rubric’s effectiveness in student self-assessment. The findings are discussed with reference to the design features of rubrics. Implications are drawn for formative rubric use in student self-assessment.     

Orchestrating expertise in reading and writing

With increased attention focused on the economic cache afforded through literacy and numeracy skills, governments around the world have turned their attention to developing the expertise of their teachers. Improving teachers' levels of competency leads to improvement in student achievement. In this qualitative case study, we focus on the Educational Foundations Program, in Ontario, Canada, established in part to develop competencies in the area of literacy instruction by addressing teachers' content knowledge. Serious questions about the ways in which the notion of ‘expertise’ is understood and developed arose as the programme was implemented. We examine notions of expertise and the experiences of teachers, administrators and curriculum leaders charged with orchestrating expertise in reading and writing in their respective districts.     

案例教学在职前教师实践能力培养中的应用

案例教学以培养学习者的实践能力为目标,这正与学科教育学课程的培养目标相一致。通过分析案例教学的特点,并且从课堂教学与教育实习中的应用方面对案例教学的具体实施进行论述,从而对职前教师的教学实践能力提供帮助。     

Writing and writers: the perceptions of young children and their parents

Over the past three decades early writing research has focused on the processes involved as children learn to write. There is now a powerful evidence base to show that children’s earliest discoveries about written language are learned through active engagement with their social and cultural worlds. In addition, the idea of writing development as an emergent process is well established. The study reported in this paper adopted case study methodology combined with an age-appropriate data collection technique in order to explore children’s perceptions of themselves as writers. A focused task using a hand puppet called Baby Bear was used to elicit children’s perceptions. The children’s parents were interviewed to elicit their perceptions of their children as writers. This small-scale exploratory study found that the children had clear perceptions about themselves as writers. There were important links between parents’ perceptions of their children as writers and the ethos for writing they created in the home. It was found that, overall, more positive parental perceptions were linked with more attention to the meaning of children’s writing. It is concluded that early years settings could usefully identify and compare children’s and parents’ perceptions of writing in order to enhance children’s writing development.     

Team teaching during field experiences in teacher education: Exploring the assistant teaching model

Teacher education institutes are in search of alternative models of field experiences, inspired by collaborative learning. This study examines team teaching. We focus upon the assistant teaching model, in which the student teacher assists the mentor during teaching. We investigate which assisting activities student teachers prefer, how student teachers and mentors experience these activities and the conditions for implementation they foresee. Data were gathered using activity reports, reflective documents and questionnaires. Results show that the preferred assisting activities mainly consist of guiding pupils during individual and team work and of teaching a part of a lesson in front of an entire class group. The assistant teaching model has both advantages (professional growth, …) and disadvantages (feelings of unfamiliarity, …) for the student teacher. Advantages and disadvantages have also been reported for mentors (support, high workload, …) and pupils (support, confusion, …). Finally, several conditions for successful implementation of the assistant teacher model are discussed.     

Becoming a teacher of writing: Primary student teachers reviewing their relationship with writing

This article investigates the extent to which Year One B.Ed student teachers arrived at university already possessing self‐confidence as writers. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used to identify students' self perceptions and confidence as writers and their understanding of processes of written composition. The article argues that to consciously engage student teachers in the writing process and to require them to reflect on that process can lead to their self efficacy as writers. Evidence from this study suggests one's self‐confidence, as a writer, is enhanced by explicitly engaging in self reflection of one's own approaches to writing. The findings have implications for course design of literacy components in teacher education internationally.     

论英语写作教学中的词汇衔接策略培养

本文针对学生的英语作文枯燥乏味这一现象,分析了大量的英语作文,发现在英语写作过程中,学生存在误用词汇重复衔接策略、很少使用同义词衔接策略和词汇搭配策略的情况。从而提出从词汇衔接策略培训、增加词汇量、讲解词汇重复衔接策略的误用情况、重视同义词衔接策略教学等入手,培养学生的词汇衔接策略,提高学生的英语写作水平。     

Learning mathematics for teaching in the student teaching experience: two contrasting cases

Student teaching (guided teaching by a prospective teacher under the supervision of an experienced “cooperating” teacher) provides an important opportunity for prospective teachers to increase their understanding of mathematics in and for teaching. The interactions between a student teacher and cooperating teacher provide an obvious mechanism for such learning to occur. We report here on data that is part of a larger study of eight student teacher/cooperating teacher pairs, and the core themes that emerged from their conversations. We focus on two pairs for whom the core conversational themes represent disparate approaches to mathematics in and for teaching. One pair, Blake and Mr. B., focused on controlling student behavior and rarely talked about mathematics for teaching. The other pair, Tara and Mr. T., focused on having students actively participating in the lesson and on mathematics from the students’ point of view. These contrasting experiences suggest that student teaching can have a profound effect on prospective teachers’ understanding of mathematics in and for teaching.

意识形态读写观在英语写作教学中的探索

读写结合是提高学生英语写作能力的有效途径。根据意识形态读写观的理论,结合英语写作教学的实际情况,采用多种教学手段,提高学生的英语写作能力。     

Teacher perceptions of integrating technology in writing

With increasing emphasis by policymakers, there has been an increase in access to technology within schools across the globe. However, recent survey findings suggest that teachers may not be integrating technology into their writing instruction in meaningful and effective ways. Variability in technology integration can be attributed to teacher attitudes about technology. This study seeks to understand teacher attitudes and perceptions regarding writing instruction and use of technology. Interviews of 47 middle school teachers revealed that most teachers considered themselves to be technology users who perceived their students’ writing skills to be deficient, yet spent little time on writing instruction in content areas. Teachers indicated that barriers to using technology included that it was too time-consuming; they had limited access; and they perceived access to be a competition. However, teachers revealed that technology was positive for students with disabilities, differentiating instruction, and providing twenty-first-century learning opportunities. These findings suggest that teacher attitudes and perceptions play an important role in technology integration. In addition to increased access to technology, school divisions should provide pre-service and in-service training and time for reflection so that teacher attitudes that impede technology integration can be positively manipulated to improve technology integration in the classroom.     

体验式教学在高职商务英语写作教学中的应用

体验式教学是以建构主义学习论为理论基础的教学方式,这种教学方式以学生为中心,通过老师创设情境和设计任务将学生学习语言知识的过程转化成创造性地运用语言的体验过程。本文尝试将体验式教学法应用于高职商务英语写作教学,并通过访谈和课堂观察对这一教学方式进行探讨,初步得出研究结论:体验式教学既给学生提供了"读写说"的机会,促使学生进行有意义的学习,提高了学生自主学习和合作交流的能力。     

大学英语写作教学的动态评估——教师介入策略的研究

在大学英语学习中,写作能力代表了最高能力,是衡量大学生英语水平的重要标准之一。但是,如何有效地进行大学英语写作教学,对教师来说是非常重要的的课题。本文探讨了大学英语写作教学中的动态评估,通过引入教师介入策略提高学生成绩,为英语写作教学的动态评估提供了参考,对外语教学改革和突破外语写作教学的瓶颈也具有一定的积极意义。     

Promoting higher levels of reflective writing in student journals

This paper traces the development over several years of an initiative involving student journals that was introduced into a tertiary science education course for pre‐service teachers to promote enhanced learning of how to teach science. Very soon after introducing the journals into course work the lecturer began engaging in ‘unplanned’ informal reflection (reflection‐in‐action and reflection‐on‐action) when she witnessed the shallow, often trivial nature of her students’ reflective writing and the lack of pedagogical insights they were gaining from the exercise. Motivated by her own ongoing scholarship the lecturer introduced purposeful coaching of reflective skills into her pedagogy to scaffold students’ learning and promote more useful reflection. The impact of these interventions on students’ reflective capabilities and learning were investigated using a formal action research cycle. Findings indicate that student teachers’ reflective skills improved and resulted in deeper and more focused thinking about how to teach science for learning.     

Impact on student teachers' conception of learning and teaching from studying a course in educational psychology

This study investigates changes in the conceptions of learning and teaching among undergraduate student teachers. A qualitative content analysis of essays using metaphors to describe learning and teaching written by 256 students at the beginning and end of an educational psychology course was used as the main research procedure. It was found that there was an increase in the share of students that see learning and teaching from a cognitive-constructivist perspective and a decrease in the share that see learning and teaching from a behaviourist perspective by the end of the course. In addition, the study revealed that the coherence in the nature of the metaphors describing learning and teaching increased by the end of the course. However, there was practically no increase in the number of essays describing learning from a socio-constructivist perspective, a fact that points to a need to pay more attention to the manifestations of learning in different communities of students, that is, to a relevant knowledge that teachers need in their everyday work.     

Negotiating accountability during student teaching: the influence of an inquiry-based student teaching seminar

Drawing on the work of Russian literary critic, Mikhail Bakhtin, this article explores how an inquiry-based social studies student teaching seminar helped three preservice teachers negotiate the pressures of standards-based reforms during student teaching. The author first examines how initial perceptions of standardization and high-stakes testing corroded images of powerful teaching and created an ex post facto relationship with teaching social studies. The author then explores how an inquiry-based seminar mitigated these initial impressions by (1) suspending the authority of accountability; (2) creating contact through collaborative inquiry; and (3) refracting practice.