Teachers’ Understanding of Interactive Approaches in Special Education

This paper considers the adoption of interactive approaches in the history of special education and addresses teachers’ use and conceptualisation of interactive approaches. Teachers in special schools and units in the United Kingdom were asked whether they used interactive approaches and, if so, what this meant in their context. Interactive approaches were reported to be used by two-thirds of the sample and what this meant to the 58 respondents, from different areas of special education, varied considerably. Their responses are compared with the central elements of interactive approaches in the literature. Areas of consensus are discussed and a relative lack of emphasis on process amongst the teachers is identified.     

Teachers’ Sickness Absence in Primary Schools,School Climate and Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy

Training programmes may compromise governors' ability to offer an authentic lay’ input. The article reports the views of governors interviewed about their perceptions of the need for a degree of expert status. It is tentatively suggested that training courses may be contributing both to a sense of inadequacy and to the tendency to become ‘incorporated’ into an institutionalised role. Some models of governor training are considered in relation to their possible effects.     

Teachers’ Evaluation of Enterprise Education in the Secondary School

Abstract

This investigation was undertaken as part of research into ‘mini‐enterprise'activity in the secondary school. The research aimed to evaluate ‘mini‐enterprise’ as an approach to learning and to offer different examples in practice. Fundamental to this evaluation was an examination of the views and attitudes of teachers towards ‘mini‐enterprise’ work. This paper describes the survey undertaken to determine teachers’ attitudes towards certain key ‘enterprise’ issues and offers a summary of the research findings concluding in a discussion of the wider educational implications.     

Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience

This study investigated the understanding of science process skills (SPS) of 329 science teachers from 52 primary schools selected by random sampling. The understanding of SPS was measured in terms of conceptual and operational aspects of SPS using an instrument called the Science Process Skills Questionnaire (SPSQ) with a Cronbach’s alpha reliability of 0.88. The findings showed that the teachers’ conceptual understanding of SPS was much weaker than their practical application of SPS. The teachers’ understanding of SPS differed by their teaching qualifications but not so much by their teaching experience. Emphasis needs to be given to both conceptual and operational understanding of SPS during pre-service and in-service teacher education to enable science teachers to use the skills and implement inquiry-based lessons in schools.     

High School Teachers’ Understanding of Blackbody Radiation

This study is a detailed look at the level of understanding of fundamental ideas about blackbody radiation (BBR) among physics teachers. The aim is to explore associations and ideas that teachers have regarding blackbody radiation: a concept used routinely in physics and chemistry, which is necessary to understand fundamentals of quantum physics. In this explorative study, the responses of 106 high school physics teachers from 18 different cities in Turkey were examined using an online questionnaire during the 2014/2015 academic year. Male (88 %) and female (12 %) teachers with an average teaching experience of 17 years participated in this study. Teachers were asked about the concept of a “blackbody” and its radiation as well as about the closely related topics such as Wien’s law and the historic effect of understanding BBR on the development of modern physics. In this study, teachers’ spontaneous ideas about the BBR are depicted by “answer sculptures.” The answer sculpture is a new way of representing and categorizing responses provided by the participants. The analysis of answer sculptures revealed that the physics teachers’ factual knowledge and their conceptual understanding of the BBR are incomplete and even misleading. Here is what teachers we surveyed make of BBR as presented in our answer sculptures. This study is left at investigating teachers’ understandings of (1) blackbody radiation and (2) the significance of this scientific breakthrough.     

Primary Teachers’ Reflections on Inquiry- and Context-Based Science Education

Inquiry- and context-based teaching strategies have been proven to stimulate and motivate students’ interests in learning science. In this study, 12 teachers reflected on these strategies after using them in primary schools. The teachers participated in a continuous professional development (CPD) programme. During the programme, they were also introduced to a teaching model from a European project, where inquiry- and context-based education (IC-BaSE) strategies were fused. The research question related to teachers’ reflections on these teaching strategies, and whether they found the model to be useful in primary schools after testing it with their students. Data collection was performed during the CPD programme and consisted of audio-recorded group discussions, individual portfolios and field notes collected by researchers. Results showed that compared with using only one instructional strategy, teachers found the new teaching model to be a useful complement. However, their discussions also showed that they did not reflect on choices of strategies or purposes and aims relating to students’ understanding, or the content to be taught. Before the CPD programme, teachers discussed the use of inquiry mainly from the aspect that students enjoy practical work. After the programme, they identified additional reasons for using inquiry and discussed the importance of knowing why inquiry is performed. However, to develop teachers’ knowledge of instructional strategies as well as purposes for using certain strategies, there is need for further investigations among primary school teachers.     

The Assessment of Student Teachers’ Academic and Professional Knowledge in School‐Based Teacher Education

The aim of this study was to scrutinize the assessment of teacher knowledge in a school‐based course at one Swedish pre‐service teacher education program. In a general education school‐based course, teacher educators visited the student teachers at their school placements and met them and their school mentors in student‐teaching conferences to assess their teacher knowledge. The findings primarily show that the assessment procedures are influenced by teacher educators’ organization of the school visits and conferences. Secondly, the organization of the school visits and conferences influences who the potential and actual assessors at the conferences can be and are. Thirdly, the assessed student teacher knowledge at the conferences is described as procedural knowledge in a knowledge‐in‐practice perspective, almost exclusively in the area of relational, emotional, and caring learning objectives and aspects of teaching activities. Fourthly, the findings show that propositional knowledge in a knowledge‐for‐practice perspective is hardly mentioned or assessed.     

A Survey of Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Reading Experiences in Kindergarten

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify, examine, and compare attitudes of kindergarten and primary teachers toward beginning reading instruction in kindergarten. A questionnaire was devised, and teachers were asked to indicate the importance, to kindergarten children, of certain reading skills, concepts, and activities; to designate which kindergarten children should engage in reading activities; and to specify the parent's role. Forty-two of 61 questionnaires were returned. Chi-square values were calculated to compare attitudes of primary and kindergarten teachers. Comments were examined and compiled. The writer concluded that most teachers were interested in and valued reading instruction in kindergarten, but that primary teachers would tend to approach such instruction more formally than kindergarten teachers.     

The Impact of Primary School Teachers’ Expectations of Pupils,Parents and Teachers on Teacher Track Recommendations

To advance the understanding about primary school teachers’ allocation process of pupils during the transition to secondary education, this study aims to investigate the influencing teacher expectations of teacher track recommendations. Using a qualitative research design consisting of an inductive approach, interview data were gathered from 15 Flemish sixth-grade teachers. The results indicate that foremost teacher expectations of pupils, more specifically of pupils’ perceived motivation or interests and learning attitude, were considered by teachers as influencing their track recommendations. Although empirical evidence was also found for the impact of expectations held by teachers about pupils’ parents and about themselves as teachers, as well as about teaching, teachers’ awareness of the impact of one’s own expectations was limited.     

Primary School Student Teachers’ Understanding of Climate Change: Comparing the Results Given by Concept Maps and Communication Analysis

Climate change is a complex environmental problem that can be used to examine students’ understanding, gained through classroom communication, of climate change and its interactions. The present study examines a series of four science sessions given to a group of primary school student teachers (n?=?20). This includes analysis of the communication styles used and the students’ pre- and post-conceptualisation of climate change based on results obtained via essay writing and drawings. The essays and drawings concerned the students’ unprompted pre- and post-conceptions about climate change, collected before and after each of the four inquiry-based science sessions (in physics, chemistry, biology and geography). Concept mapping was used in the analysis of the students’ responses. The communication used in the four sessions was analysed with a communicative approach in order to find out the discussion about climate change between teacher and students. The analyses indicated that the students did not have the knowledge or the courage to participate in discussion, but post-conceptualisation map showed that students’ thinking had become more coherent after the four sessions. Given the results of the present study, proposals for using concepts maps and/or communication analysis in studying students’ conceptions are presented.     

Primary Physical Science for Student Teachers at Kindergarten and Primary School Levels: Part II—Implementation and Evaluation of a Course

Interchange - This is the second of two papers on a novel physical science course for student teachers that develops and uses an imaginative approach to Primary Physical Science Education....     

Teachers’ Integration of Scientific and Engineering Practices in Primary Classrooms

The Next-Generation Science Standards (NGSS) challenge primary teachers and students to work and think like scientists and engineers as they strive to understand complex concepts. Teachers and teacher educators can leverage what is already known about inquiry teaching as they plan instruction to help students meet the new standards. This cross-case analysis of a multiple case study examined teacher practices in the context of a semester-long professional development course for elementary teachers. We reviewed lessons and teacher reflections, examining how kindergarten and first grade teachers incorporated NGSS scientific and engineering practices during inquiry-based instruction. We found that most of the teachers worked with their students on asking questions; planning and carrying out investigations; analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and computational thinking; and obtaining, evaluating and communicating information. Teachers faced challenges in supporting students in developing their own questions that could be investigated and using data collection strategies that aligned with students’ development of number sense concepts. Also, some teachers overemphasized the scientific method and lacked clarity in how they elicited and responded to student predictions. Discussion focuses on teacher supports that will be needed as states transition to NGSS.     

Physical Education Pre-service Teachers’ Understanding,Application, and Development of Critical Thinking

To better prepare physical education (PE) teachers, this study explored a group of pre-service teachers’ understanding, application, and development of critical thinking (CT) in a capstone methods course. Participants were 12 pre-service teachers from a PE teacher education (PETE) program at a large university in the southwestern United States. Data were collected through focus group interviews and post-lab assignments and were analyzed via content analysis. Findings showed that the PE pre-service teachers could define CT and recognize its importance to teaching and learning. Together with field-based teaching practices, course written assignments such as the encyclopedia article, curriculum project, lesson plans, and post assignments were identified as contributors to CT development. At the end of the semester, the PE pre-service teachers demonstrated an improvement in CT across three levels. Based on our findings, we recommend the integration of CT instruction into PETE programs.     

Chinese Primary School Mathematics Teachers’ Assessment Profiles: Findings from a Large-Scale Questionnaire Survey

This study investigated Chinese primary school mathematics teachers’ views on assessment in an effort to determine their assessment profiles. A large-scale questionnaire survey with 1101 teachers from 12 Chinese provinces and regions was carried out. The teachers reported to use assessment on a daily or weekly basis for different purposes. They recognized the importance of assessing different types of skills and knowledge and considered assessment useful for improving teaching and learning. To determine teachers’ assessment profiles, we used several latent variable modeling techniques. With exploratory factor analyses, we identified eight factors in the teachers’ responses: general instructional decision-making assessment purposes [1], specific instructional decision-making assessment purposes [2], assessment methods [3], diversity of assessment problem format [4], importance of assessing skills and knowledge [5], importance of assessing extra-curricular skills [6], Perceived usefulness [7], and acceptance of assessment [8]. When these factors were used to interpret the results of a latent class analysis, three distinct assessment profiles could be distinguished. One fifth of the teachers were in the Enthusiastic assessors profile. These teachers not only reported to use assessment frequently [3, 4] and purposefully [1, 2], but also highly endorsed its importance [5, 6] and usefulness [7, 8]. Around half of the teachers were in the Mainstream assessors profile; these teachers scored close to the mean on all factors. The remaining teachers held the relatively negative views on assessment and were therefore in the Unenthusiastic assessors profile. This profile characterization sheds light on Chinese primary school mathematics teachers’ assessment culture.     

A Comparison of High School Teachers’ Instructional Postures in Regular Classrooms and in Computing Environments

ABSTRACT

High school teachers' classroom behaviors were observed and compared with their behaviors in the computing environment to determine whether or not the computer might act as a catalyst to promote facilitative behavior in teachers. No significant difference was found in terms of increased facilitative behavior in computer classrooms. However, female teachers adopted more facilitative postures in the computing environment than did male teachers, and the teachers with the greatest number of years of experience in teaching with computers appeared to exhibit more directive postures in both the regular and computing setting than did teachers with fewer years of experience. Implications of this for teacher education are discussed.