Teacher turnover: What can we learn from Europe?

Shortages of qualified teachers in primary and secondary education are very common in almost all European countries and in the US. Since high quality teachers are usually the most likely to leave, much attention has been focused on teacher turnover; retaining the best teachers can help to ameliorate teacher shortages. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this paper examines the rates and characteristics of teacher turnover across European countries. Though the numerical rates of teacher turnover have followed similar patterns, countries are very individual in other respects, including the types of positions teachers hold and how they are appraised. Moreover, from the early 1990s, Eastern European countries experienced economic transitions that have influenced teacher mobility in the long term. Thanks to SHARE, we can study the occupational trajectories of respondents in nineteen European countries. By identifying those who changed their occupation, we can learn more about teacher turnover, its characteristics across Europe and how it has been affected by economic and political transition.     

Groundwater protection： What can we learn from Germany？

For drinking water security the German waterworks proceed on a comprehensive concept, i.e., the protection of all the regions from the recharge area to the client. It includes the protection of the recharge area by a precautionary management, a safe water treatment, a strict maintenance of the water distribution network, continuous control and an intensive training of staff. Groundwater protection zones together with effective regulations and control play a very important role. Three protection zones with different restrictions in land-use are distinguished. Water in reservoirs and lakes is also protected by Surface Water Protection Zones. Within the surrounding area the land-use is controlled, too. Special treatment is necessary if acidification happens caused by acid rain, or eutrophication caused by the inflow of sewage. Very important is the collaboration between waterworks and the farmers cultivating land in the recharge area in order to execute water-protecting ecological farming with the aim to reduce the application of fertilizers and plant protection agents. Probable financial losses have to be compensated by the waterworks.     

What we can learn from the use of student data in efficiency analysis within the context of higher education?

The main purpose of the paper is to estimate the efficiency of a big public university in Italy using individual student-level data, modeling exogenous variables in human capital formation through a heteroscedastic stochastic frontier approach. Specifically, a production function for tertiary education has been estimated with emphasis on inefficiency and its determinants, taking explicitly into account the role played by students’ socio-economic and educational background. The empirical evidence, based on 48,338 freshmen, leads towards the use of individual-level data in order to control for the portion of the student academic achievement affected by the personal characteristics and effort, and the portion ascribable to the resources or organization of the institutional activities. Within the limit of external validity allowed by operating within only one university, efficiency scores derived from using both individual-level and aggregate level data do offer an important instrument to the university and governance structures.     

What can academic development learn from the health humanities?

The health humanities is a movement seeking to promote engagement with arts and humanities disciplines as a way of helping professionals, patients, informal carers, and members of the public to understand healthcare. Here, I draw parallels between health and learning and suggest a similar approach for academic developers. I indicate the potential scope for the learning arts and humanities, providing examples of existing practice in which the methods and sensibilities of literary studies are shedding light on learning and teaching in higher education.     

Searching for Explanations in Science Trade Books: What can we learn from Coh-Metrix?

Given the importance of explanation in science texts for children, this research explored Coh-Metrix as a tool for rapidly determining the presence of explanations in science trade books. Variables from Coh-Metrix specifically addressing cause (causal content, causal cohesion, and positive causal connectives) were correlated with an existing, high-inference causal variable from previous research. Moderate correlations were found for causal cohesion and positive causal connectives (both r(18) = 0.46, p < 0.05); no correlation was found with causal content. Somewhat stronger correlations were found with two, co-referential Coh-Metrix variables, argument overlap and stem overlap. These findings suggest that Coh-Metrix may be used for an initial screening to determine if a science text has the necessary conditions to be explanatory.     

Pupils talking about their learning mentors: what can we learn?

The use of learning mentors to provide additional support to pupils who experience barriers to learning has become a feature of many schools in recent years. Mentoring places learning within a social context and recognises the necessity to ensure that students feel both comfortable with and in control of the learning process. This paper describes research which sought the views of young people who, having been identified as having social difficulties, had been supported by learning mentors. Their personal interpretation of mentoring and its impact on their lives is discussed and illustrated through use of their own words. Students interviewed demonstrated an ability to rationalise their own situations and behaviors and provide an indication of the important role that learning mentors have played in their lives.     

What can evidence-use in practice learn from evidence-use in policy?

Abstract

Background: This paper approaches evidence-informed practice from the perspective of evidence-informed policy-making. Using the findings of a recent study of evidence-use by educational policy-makers to raise questions about evidence-use by educational practitioners, it seeks to explore what such a study might tell us about how to understand and improve evidence-use by educational practitioners.

Purpose: The paper aims, therefore, to identify potential connections, shared insights and common issues between evidence-use in policy and evidence-use in practice. It does this by focusing on two specific areas: the nature of the evidence (i.e. what evidence is used) and the nature of the use (i.e. how evidence is used). The paper outlines what was found about each of these aspects of evidence-use in policy, and then considers what questions and issues these findings might raise for evidence-use in educational practice.

Sample: The empirical study on which this paper is based was an in-depth study of the use of evidence within educational policy development in Australia. It focused on the development of three specific education policies within one Australian state education department and involved interviews with 25 policy-makers who were actively involved in the development of these policies.

Design and methods: The policy-based study involved the following data collection processes: (i) in-depth semi-structured interviews with 25 policy-makers who were involved in the development of the selected policies; (ii) documentary analysis of policy documents, background research reports and other relevant papers relating to the selected policies; (iii) unstructured observation (where possible) of meetings and events connected with the development of the selected policies; and (iv) feedback from 40 wider policy staff who took part in a verification workshop to discuss the project’s emerging findings.

Findings: Drawing on the findings from the original policy study, two areas of potential connection to evidence-use in practice are explored. First, in relation to ‘varieties of evidence and uses’, the negotiation of diverse evidence types and the potential for using evidence in multiple and varied ways appear to be features of evidence-use that are common to educational policy-makers as well as educational practitioners. Secondly, in relation to ‘narrowness of evidence sources’, there is potential for both policy-makers and practitioners to use a narrow (rather than broad) selection of evidence, due to a tendency to work with certain evidence types as a starting point (e.g. performance data) and a tendency to draw on certain evidence sources more frequently (e.g. well-known, familiar research sources).

Conclusions: This paper emphasises: (i) the need for more integrated (or joined-up) understandings of evidence-use across contexts of practice and contexts of policy; (ii) the importance of continued efforts to understand and represent evidence-use more effectively within educational practices; and (iii) the value of paying careful attention to the quality and qualities of evidence-use within and across the different settings of educational practice and policy.     

Educational performance or educational inequality: what can we learn from PISA about France and England?

This article evaluates PISA 2000 as a resource for providing information on educational attainment and inequality, focusing on France and England. Going beyond pupils' performance, it assesses levels of educational inequality by examining distributions of scores and the relationship between socio‐economic status and performance. This review raises methodological issues which could hamper the comparison of performance. The prioritising of ‘skills for life’ over curriculum‐based questions, together with PISA's sampling on the basis of pupils' age rather than their class/grade, works to the advantage of the English performance. The issue of low response rates in England is also raised and care is urged with regard to ranking the performance of France and England on the basis of these results. The article concludes that as a tool for comparing average performance PISA has drawbacks, but for assessing levels of inequality it is a useful resource.     

Primary mathematics teacher education in Australia and China: What might we learn from each other?

The preparation of teachers to teach mathematics to primary school children differs across nations and cultures. This study used mixed methods to examine the basic content knowledge of trainee teachers in Australia and China. A simple test (30 questions) of content based on an international comparative study in mathematics teacher training found that many of the Australian trainee teachers struggled with material that they might be expected to teach, while the Chinese teachers largely demonstrated mastery. The significance of this finding is examined in the context of the teacher preparation programs in two teacher training institutions. Cultural commentary is added by leading academics in each institution. It was found that in the Australian teacher training institution there was a focus on generic skills and relatively limited opportunity to develop trainee teachers’ content knowledge or specific pedagogy. The relevance of the findings is discussed through the framework of different beliefs in the nature of mathematics and mathematics teaching that have been reported to dominate the different educational systems in China and Australia.     

What do we learn from docutainment? Processing hybrid television documentaries

This study examined how hybrid documentary formats, which embed educational contents into narratives, are cognitively processed. Based on existing research and theories, two reception modes were identified: processing with a focus on the narrative plotline and processing with a focus on the thematic structure. In two experiments, two markers of narrative processing could be found for hybrid television documentaries: the experience of transportation and the narrative distance effect. In the first experiment, it could be shown that re-enactments and personal variables enhance the experience of transportation. The second experiment confirmed the narrative distance effect, which occurs independently of reception goals. This means that educational facts which are closely tied to the narrative plotline were learned better than distant facts, regardless of whether the recipients watched the documentary for information or entertainment purposes. The study supplements prior theories on hybrid processing and provides conditions under which narratives are appropriate for learning.     

What can research on teacher education tell us about improving quality in mathematics education?

In order to speculate about how teacher education can function to improve mathematics education, we need to specify what sort of mathematics learning we want schools to produce, what sort of teaching causes that learning, and how teachers might be educated to do that sort of teaching. Research on teaching and teacher education is reviewed here which helps to clarify these relationships, including work in the teacher effects tradition; studies of organizational change, undergraduate programs, and institutional socialization; and analyses of knowledge and skill development and use with experienced teachers.     

What can be learned from writing about early field experiences?

This paper describes the evolution of assignments in a course for students preparing to teach secondary science, mathematics, and agriculture science. We describe and analyze work done by preservice students in two different years to look for developing teacher knowledge, explicate how we have come to understand teacher knowledge as it was enacted in this particular context, and discuss how our self-study contributed to the growth of our knowledge as teacher educators.     

What do clients learn from counseling?

Thirty-five clients who received counselingparticipated in this exploratory study by completinga letter to a friend that described in as much detailas possible what they had learned from counseling. Theparticipants' written responses were analyzed using acontent analysis approach. The analysis indicated thatthe data were best categorized in terms of three broadareas of learnings (Self, Relations with Others, andthe Process of Learning and Change). The Self taxonomywas found to consist of six hierarchical levels. TheRelations with Others taxonomy consisted of fivehierarchical levels, while the Process of Learning andChange taxonomy consisted of five hierarchical levels.The results suggested that these three taxonomiesoffer a promising and exciting way to view the impactof counseling within a learning framework. If thesetaxonomies are found to be stable in future researchand clients are easily classified using the taxonomiesthen this approach may have implications forcounseling. It may well be that to maximise thelearnings counselors could use specific strategies andtechniques to enhance their clients' learning in thethree areas.     

Student enrolment in Malaysian higher education: is there gender disparity and what can we learn from the disparity?

Access into higher education has traditionally been dominated by males. However, the current situation in Malaysia as well as in many developed and developing nations is that females have outnumbered males in higher education. By comparing gender enrolment, this paper illustrates the extent of gender disparity in Malaysian higher education across different higher education institutions, levels of study and fields of study. The disparity across the three dimensions can be summarised as a trend in which there is over-representation of females in public universities, in all disciplines except engineering, manufacturing and construction, and at all levels except the doctorate. Importantly, although set in Malaysia, this paper has wider implications where the trend of gender disparity underlined two areas of concern, namely an overly emphasised academic admission for transition from schools into higher education and the differentiated willingness of households to spend on higher education for their sons and daughters.     

Learning with dyslexia in secondary school in New Zealand: What can we learn from students' past experiences?

This study uses an interpretive approach to present the prior secondary school experiences of four students with dyslexia now studying at university. Students with dyslexia in Aotearoa/New Zealand have had to contend with a compulsory education system that has not recognised their learning struggles nor supported their particular ways of learning. Students have had to develop their own support strategies to complete educational qualifications. Students' experienced teacher and system ignorance of their learning difficulties and needs. Inappropriate support offered in an ad hoc manner impacted on their success. Despite this all students developed their own strengths and support networks, which helped them to progress in their education. The success of these networks influenced their decision to continue onto university. Students perceived their learning with dyslexia as different from their peers and creating difficulties within the existing educational system, but not disabling.     

Pioneer women in engineering studies: what can we learn from their experiences?

ABSTRACT

Women's access to higher education in Spain began in the last third of the nineteenth century. However, the full incorporation of women into technical studies did not occur until a century later. This article presents the results of research into the access of the first women to do technical studies in Catalonia (northeast Spain). Data have been collected from 11 technical schools belonging to the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) with the aim of understanding the dynamics of the incorporation of women into these schools between 1851 (foundation of the first engineering school in Catalonia) and 1980. Interviews were conducted with 21 pioneer women who completed their technical studies. Their experiences show how technical schools had to adapt, both physically and culturally, to female students. Finally, the current status of female engineers in Catalonia is compared with the situation in other Western countries. Similarities are found that show the relevance of gender as a social structuring force.     

Teaching development for doctoral students: what can we learn from activity theory?

This paper explores issues relating to programmes for doctoral students wishing to gain experience of, and develop skills in, teaching. The focus is on “Developing Learning and Teaching” – a new provision at the University of Oxford. The purpose is to exemplify how activity theory can be used to situate particular programmes and individual experiences in a wider systemic setting. The authors explain the concepts of the activity system, and use these to identify systemic tensions (analysing university‐wide survey data), then to assess whether the provision has addressed these tensions (analysing data from interviews with participants).

Cet article explore les questions soulevées par les programmes destinés aux doctorants intéressés à acquérir une expérience d’enseignement et à développer leurs compétences d’enseignement. Le centre d’intérêt est placé sur ? «Developing Learning and Teaching» ? – un nouveau cours offert à l’université d’Oxford. L’objectif est de démontrer comment la théorie de l’activité peut être utilisée de façon à situer des programmes spécifiques et des expériences individuelles dans un contexte systémique plus vaste. Nous expliquons les concepts du système d’activité et utilisons ceux‐ci de façon à identifier des tensions systémiques (par l’analyse de données recueillies par questionnaire à la grandeur de l’université), puis évaluons si le cours cible ces tensions (par l’analyse de données recueillies par entretien auprès des participants).