Standards of practice to standards of evidence: developing assessment capable teachers

Abstract

Teacher education is a hotly debated policy area in higher education and schooling portfolios, with increasing emphasis on standards and accountability. It is in this environment that The Standards Project (2013–2015) presented in this article began. It has at its core a three-part commitment: first, to undertake a comprehensive audit and analysis of all teacher education programmes in the state of Queensland, Australia, to establish the approaches and practices Universities relied on to preparing beginning teachers as assessment capable; second, to take account of multiple perspectives and approaches in initial teacher education to integrating data into how beginning teachers are prepared to source and use evidence for improving learning and teaching; and further, to develop new principles, policy and practices for reviewing and moderating teacher education programmes against professional standards. The paper proposes a move beyond the discourse of professional standards of practice towards a complementary discourse of standards of evidence. In our collaboration we drew on two fields, namely the writing on teacher education including reviews, and the field of assessment, both considered within broader sociocultural theory applied to assessment.     

Scientific evidence as content knowledge: a replication study with English and Turkish pre-service primary teachers

Pre-service teachers around the world need to develop their content knowledge of scientific evidence to meet the requirements of recent school curriculum developments which prepare pupils to be scientifically literate. This research reports a replication study in Turkey of an intervention originally carried out with pre-service primary teachers in England. The cohorts had different characteristics; in particular, their overall ability, their confidence in science and how they had been taught science at school were different. Despite these differences the explicit teaching of the ‘concepts of evidence’, which is described, proved to be a targeted and efficient intervention in both cohorts. Following teaching both cohorts had increased their understanding of scientific evidence, improved their ability to conduct an open-ended investigation and they were able to ask questions about the evidence for claims made in a socio-scientific issue.     

From attrition to retention: a narrative inquiry of why beginning teachers leave and then rejoin the profession

The issue of beginning teachers leaving the profession in the first few years of their career represents a global problem, and while discrepancies exist over precise numbers, there is consensus that the attrition rate of new teachers is high. This paper reports on a narrative inquiry into two beginning teachers who left the profession after just 1 year of practice, only to return 2 years later. By examining this continuum from attrition to retention through the lens of the two teachers’ narrative accounts it is possible to gain some insights into how new teachers’ personal and professional landscapes intertwine. Findings reveal that these beginning teachers’ experiences of their school contexts combined with their personal stories in the first year of practice shaped their professional identity culminating in them leaving and then rejoining the teaching fold. Insights gleaned may have significant implications for beginning teachers, school leaders, teacher education institutions, and policy makers.     

试论职业院校良好师生关系的构建

师生关系是教育中最核心、最基本的人际关系。和谐师生关系对整个教育质量的提高和学生的健康发展有着重大的影响。本文以部分高职院校为例,在调研分析的基础上,揭示目前高职院校师生关系的现状及存在的主要问题。提出了以学生为本,加强师德修养,重拾教师权威,健全制度,搭建平台等构建良好师生关系的对策,并设计了具体的师生交往活动。     

新课改形势下历史教学中新型师生关系的构建尝试

中学历史教学中师生关系的现状和课程改革的发展决定了构建新型师生关系的必要。作为中学历史教师,积极投身改革,在实践中建立新型师生关系成为必需。     

从功能到存在:新型师生关系的构建

师生关系是教师和学生在教与学活动中形成的特殊社会关系和人际关系。传统的师生关系是以满足外在社会需要的功能性关系。存在性关系是把师生放在"作为教师的人"与"作为学生的人"的视域中从多种维度分析"教师"和"学生"之间的关系,其主要特点是:关注人身心发展的完整性;关注师生人格的平等性;关注交往过程的教育性。存在性师生关系建构的策略是:教师要全面了解和发现学生,树立正确的学生观;教师重构自我意识;师生之间相互理解与尊重、平等对话。     

Situating teacher inquiry: a micropolitical perspective

Professional learning communities (PLCs) have become a popular strategy in various forms (e.g., data teams, grade-level teams) and with various champions (e.g., district leaders, university researchers, teacher advocates). Although well-implemented PLCs have been shown to distribute leadership, the tension between democratic inquiry processes and the demands of accountability remain understudied. This study asks how teacher inquiry is situated within conflicting school priorities and the impact of competing power structures on PLCs through a case study of a teacher inquiry initiative at 6 urban elementary and middle schools in the US. Data were collected over 3 years of PLC implementation. District officials, principals, reform coaches, and teachers at each setting participated in more than 300 interviews, regular site visits, and annual teacher surveys. The influences of power structures – such as district mandates, accountability pressures, and principal leadership – emerged as strong themes in teacher narratives of what it means to “do” inquiry in their PLCs.     

Professional development in a culture of inquiry: PDS teachers identify the benefits of professional learning communities

Teacher researchers in a Professional Development School context identify two important shifts in traditional school cultures in order for teacher inquiry to thrive as a means for teacher development: a shift to community and a shift to uncertainty. PDS teachers in this study spoke about their need for supportive learning communities where they may collaborate and engage in dialogue with colleagues and other professionals. Professional learning communities created opportunities for dialogue which also made it safe to ask questions and work in a community where uncertainty was not only valued, but supported. Professional learning communities for teacher development also need to be analyzed for insights they bring to teacher education, professional development, and educational change. Recognizing and understanding tensions in collaboration and dialogue and their connected shifts to community and uncertainty could enhance learning opportunities for teachers as well as the life of a teacher with an inquiry stance.     

Educating pre-service teachers: towards a critical inquiry workforce

ABSTRACT

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers identify a range of supposedly demonstrable capabilities for graduate teachers. Elaborations privilege the realization of Standards through mentoring, and feedback from senior colleagues. As manifestations of the logic of neo-liberalism they operate as audit technologies for pre-service teachers and their learning. In this paper, we argue for the preparation of graduate teachers who can engage in critical inquiry as means for expanding professional learning, developing pedagogical practices and improving student learning. We report on the preparation of 4th year pre-service teachers to undertake critical inquiry into an aspect of pedagogic practice during their final practicum placement. We first address instrumental framings of teacher preparation. A case is then made for critical practitioner inquiry as an alternative. Empirical data is drawn from the ‘practice architectures’ of an Australian teacher education program as these relate to developing pre-service teacher inquiry designs. We present inquiry questions, abstracts and reflections developed by pre-service teachers over a seven-year period in two discipline groupings, Health and Physical Education and Mathematics and Science, as evidence of possibilities for preparing graduates for a critical inquiry workforce. We conclude in arguing that these possibilities are vital in times framed by a narrowing technical and standardized educational environment.     

Reflection in action: using inquiry groups to explore critical digital literacy with pre-service teachers

The challenge of preparing teachers and their eventual students to be successful, full participants in today’s digital society is one that faces all teacher preparation programs. However, in the United States our current system of technology instruction in pre-service education focuses primarily on functional technology skills, and critical and reflective components are largely absent. The present study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of using inquiry groups as a site for critical digital literacy work with pre-service teachers at a mid-size university in the Mid-Atlantic United States. The purpose of the inquiry was to engage in a critique of our own digital literacy practices within our wider socio-cultural context (i.e. the digital society). This article describes the inquiry group process and outcomes, and provides implications for using inquiry groups to develop critical digital literacy with pre-service teachers.     

Personal values and attitudes towards societal and environmental accountability: a study of MBA students

Efforts to promote corporate societal and environmental accountability (SEA) should be informed by an understanding of stakeholders’ attitudes toward enhanced accountability standards. However, little is known regarding current attitudes on this subject or the determinants of these attitudes. To address this issue, this study examines the relationship between personal values and support for social and environmental accountability for a sample of Indian MBA students. Selected contemporary social and environmental issues were used to assess the students’ support for social and environmental accountability. Principal component analysis was used to explore the underlying dimensions or factors that shape social and environmental beliefs and attitudes. Multiple regression models were run for each of the SEA dimensions to test the hypotheses and the relationship between the values and support for SEA. Exploratory factor analysis of the items revealed two distinct factors: (1) endorsement of the general proposition that corporations and executives should be held accountable for the social and environmental impacts of their actions and (2) agreement that the government should adopt and enforce formal SEA standards. The results indicate that the security and universalism value type is positively associated with general support for SEA but not with support for government enforcement of accountability standards. The study found that the benevolence value type is negatively associated with general support for SEA. Gender also has a significant impact on support for government enforcement of SEA standards.     

Attribution characteristics of chinese teachers and students: From some interaction experiences on campus

Teacher-student conflict is attracting people’s attention in China. This study utilized attribution theories to investigate the attribution features of Mainland Chinese teacher and student groups for negative events in their interactions. It found out that due to the factor of social identity, the two groups revealed a significant self-serving bias in attribution of events related to teaching and learning. As for events related to other campus activities, major tendencies of the two groups were consistent for situational factors due to the influence of social values and campus cultures. However, in regards to other factors for these events, rather than social factors, the two groups showed cognitive gaps as well.     

建设三支教师队伍服务职工培训

江苏油田职工培训中心坚持以人为本,把职工队伍建设作为重中之重来抓,制定了职工培训中心教师队伍建设“十五”规划。每年投入20多万元,本着“干什么,学什么,缺什么,补什么”的原则,通过送教师到高等院校进修,到生产一线锻炼。带课题自学等形式,加强学科带头人、教学负责人和外聘兼职教师队伍建设,全面提升教职工队伍整体素质,不断提高培训质量,促进职业教育的健康发展。     

Primary teachers conducting inquiry projects: effects on attitudes towards teaching science and conducting inquiry

ABSTRACT

This study used an experimental, pretest-posttest control group design to investigate whether participation in a large-scale inquiry project would improve primary teachers’ attitudes towards teaching science and towards conducting inquiry. The inquiry project positively affected several elements of teachers’ attitudes. Teachers felt less anxious about teaching science and felt less dependent on contextual factors compared to the control group. With regard to attitude towards conducting inquiry, teachers felt less anxious and more able to conduct an inquiry project. There were no effects on other attitude components, such as self-efficacy beliefs or relevance beliefs, or on self-reported science teaching behaviour. These results indicate that practitioner research may have a partially positive effect on teachers’ attitudes, but that it may not be sufficient to fully change primary teachers’ attitudes and their actual science teaching behaviour. In comparison, a previous study showed that attitude-focused professional development in science education has a more profound impact on primary teachers’ attitudes and science teaching behaviour. In our view, future interventions aiming to stimulate science teaching should combine both approaches, an explicit focus on attitude change together with familiarisation with inquiry, in order to improve primary teachers’ attitudes and classroom practices.     

World culture and social justice in a divided society: evaluations of Israeli Jewish and Arab teachers and students

ABSTRACT

Using the Israeli case, our study delves into teachers’ and students’ notions of social justice, exploring how they are shaped by both world culture trends and local conditions. We first identify social justice notions in the world culture perspective and Israeli society. Then, we empirically examine how these notions are understood by educational agents – teachers and students – across sectors that mirror Israeli society’s major divide: Jewish and Arab-Palestinian. Findings suggest that educational agents and ethnonational affiliation play a major role in recreating national heritages and the different ways in which they understand social justice their lives.     

Ten Years After the Spellings Commission: From Accountability to Internal Improvement

Student learning outcomes assessment has been increasingly used in U.S. higher education institutions over the last 10 years, partly fueled by the recommendation from the Spellings Commission that institutions need to demonstrate more direct evidence of student learning. To respond to the Commission's call, various accountability initiatives have been launched, profoundly reshaping how assessment has been viewed, implemented, and used in higher education. This article reviews the conceptual and methodological challenges of the assessment agenda for one of the landmark accountability initiatives, the Voluntary System of Accountability, and also documents the notable shift from a strong focus on accountability to an increasing emphasis on internal improvement. This article then discusses the most recent developments in assessment approaches and tools, and proposes a four‐element, one‐enabler assessment cycle for institutions to maximally benefit from their assessment efforts.     

高职院校如何构建学生素质教育的平台

高职院校要坚持对学生进行综合素质教育,全面提高学生综合素质水平,为社会培养有用人才,这是高职教育的根本任务。本文从六个方面探讨了高职院校如何构建学生素质教育的平台,对学生进行全方位的综合素质教育,从而提高学生的综合素质水平。     

Rethinking employability: how students build on interest in a subject to plan a career

Higher Education - An entrepreneurship movement has advanced into higher education. There is a growing expectation that universities demonstrate an economic contribution to the public good by...     

Designing and using an organisational culture inquiry tool to glimpse the relational nature of leadership and organisational culture within a South Australian primary school

This case study research found that the relational leadership and organisational culture at a public primary school situated in a high poverty location in South Australia was built upon the strength of the inter-relationships between the teachers, teachers and leadership, and between teachers and students. Supported by what we called ‘dynamic inter-relationships’ and a ‘commitment to ongoing growth’ manifesting as key themes across the qualitative survey data generated by the school’s participants, we found the individual strengths of staff served the ‘on-going formation of organisational life’. Cognisant of these disclosed relational underpinnings, the research provided recommendations to the school’s leadership team about how they could best progress their educational reform agenda. The findings affirmed an Appreciative Inquiry inspired approach designed for the research was ‘fit for purpose’ as it generated extensive qualitative data from the teachers and leaders, offering opportunity for deep interpretive analysis using hermeneutic methodology of the school’s relational leadership and organisational culture. The research findings were subsequently confirmed by the teachers and leaders through a dialogic presentation of the research findings as an accurate representation of the culture of their school.     

From troops to teachers: changing careers and narrative identities

Troops to Teachers (TtT) is a UK governmental scheme introduced in 2013 to facilitate ex-military service personnel to re-train as teachers. This narrative study explores the accounts of a sample of new TtT trainees at the onset of their training and considers their motivations for career changing, potential transferable attributes and skills, aspirational teacher identities and anticipated challenges. Emerging from these rich narratives is a strong, shared commitment to the trainees’ chosen new career. Self-discipline is identified as a professional quality to take into teaching from military service, whilst maintaining discipline in the classroom is more commonly regarded as an area of concern and challenge, rather than as a transferable skill set, challenging core governmental expectations of the Troops to Teachers initiative. However, the importance of and a desire and commitment to continue to ‘serve’, is widely held, reflecting a particular narrative refraction of the TtT trainees. This provides potential for further, perhaps longitudinal study, as the troops become teachers. The study affirms the potential for further investment in a wider recruitment strategy for career-change teachers more generally, as providing an experienced and motivated professional workforce for schools.

Abbreviation DfE: Department for Education; MoD: Ministry of Defence; TtT: UK Troops to Teachers; TTT: USA Troops To Teachers