Correspondence Training as a Means of Improving Study Skills

This study was an attempt to encourage middle school pupils to use time spent on topic (project) work to better effect. They were taught some elements of correspondence training which required them to think ahead, to plan carefully what they were going to do in a certain time period and to make a forecast. At the end of each working session, they were required to look back at what they had achieved and to discuss the outcomes with a partner in terms of their success at forecasting and in achievement. Especially among the more able pupils, there were marked improvements in both quantity and quality of work produced     

The Working Situation of Elementary School Teachers Explored Through Diaries

Elklit, A. & Friis, T. 1979. The Working Situation of Elementary School Teachers Explored through Diaries. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 23, 65‐77. In this pilot study the daily work flows of Danish elementary school teachers were examined through regularly made self‐registrations with diaries. Although rarely used, this method seems to be very reliable in giving exact information concerning work conditions and priorities. The workload of the teachers was found to be considerable, and the working situation was characterized by many adjustments to qualitatively new conditions. Regular teaching and planning alone were the most extensive activities, while activities central in the new curriculum ‐ social‐emotional development, counselling, planning with pupils ‐ had a modest position. The co‐operation with other resource persons connected with the schools was sporadic. A remarkable difference in total worktime between teachers from different schools suggests the importance of local organizational conditions.     

Concept formation in environmental education: 14‐year olds’ work on the intensified greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone layer

A case study is presented describing the work of three pupils in the upper level of compulsory school. The pupils were learning about the intensified greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone layer. In their work, the need for certain domain‐specific knowledge becomes apparent; for example, understanding such concepts as photosynthesis, radiation and catalyst. The results show that the pupils experienced difficulty in distinguishing between the different meanings attached to individual concepts in their theoretical and practical contexts. They are often unable to identify the meaning relevant to the specific environmental problem that they are working on. The pupils’ difficulties are seen here as a problem of differentiation between concepts denoted by the same term as well as between different aspects of the same concept, a view that is then related to the question of appropriate conditions for conceptual change.     

Visuospatial working memory in adolescents with poor performance in mathematics: variation depending on reading skills

The first purpose of this study was to investigate whether the visuospatial working memory (VSWM) skills of 15–16‐year‐old pupils with difficulties in mathematics differ from those of their normally achieving peers. The goal was to broaden the view of the complex system of VSWM. A set of passive and active VSWM tasks was used. The study’s second purpose was to investigate whether pupils with mathematical difficulties differed in their VSWM skills based on whether they had signs of reading deficits or not. Results indicate that the pupils with poor performance in maths showed poorer performance on certain VSWM tasks. The group with deficits only in maths had less capacity for storing passive visual simultaneous information, while the group with difficulties both in maths and reading had deficits in both storing (passive visual and visuospatial information) and processing, and had less ability to control irrelevant visuospatial information compared to their peers of the same age. The results indicate a general VSWM deficit in pupils with both mathematics and reading problems and a specific VSWM deficit in pupils with only mathematics problems.     

From ‘doing’ to ‘doing with learning’: reflection on an effort to promote self-regulated learning in technological projects in high school

Project-based learning is undoubtedly one of the best instructional methods for developing students’ broad learning capabilities, beyond teaching specific subject matter. However, experienced engineering teachers often tend to concentrate on merely teaching pupils the technical side of project work. This paper describes a programme aimed at fostering self-regulated learning among high schools pupils working on projects in electronics, control systems and robotics. The programme sought, for example, to promote pupils’ conceptual knowledge regarding the subjects they dealt with in their projects, enabling the learners to gain experience using simulation, laboratory testing and troubleshooting in a system that they were constructing. The change in project work also required pupils to document systematically all stages of system development and reflect on their learning by preparing a printed or web-based ePortfolio on the project. Outcomes of the in-service training course given to teachers countrywide and the first signs of change in project work in schools are reported.     

FOSTERING PRO SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN THE SPANISH SCHOOL SYSTEM: A WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH

This study is an attempt to offer the teacher an approach to help deal with the problem of boys underachievement which is frequently linked with misbehaviour and a negative attitude towards school. It looks at the extent working in pairs can help boys’ performance on a class test. 96 boys in their first year of an ‘A‐level’ course were included in the study. They worked and were tested either in pairs or alone. It was found that those who ONLY worked in pairs did better on the test and were more confident of their answers, than the pupils who had worked alone for some or all of the tasks. This occurred regardless of whether they rehearsed. It was suggested that encouraging boys to work harder is not very effective. More can be achieved by providing an opportunity to work with others and enhance their self‐confidence.     

II: The Conflict

An environmental project in a native language German class (writing a book on environmental issues) gave the pupils, thirteen‐yea‐old girls, a large scope of freedom for independent group work. When they could not present sufficient results of their work at an interim report stage, a serious conflict resulted in which the teacher reproached the pupils heavily. In the case study this conflict is analysed: its possible causes, processes and some of its effects. Available data were the teacher's own diary and essays in which the pupils wrote frankly how they experienced the conflict. One issue arising from the analysis was the differences between the teacher"s intentions (e.g. to stimulate self‐determination in the pupils) and what he had achieved In this conflict (e.g. showing them how narrow their room for discretion actually was). Another issue was the pupils” sense of responsibility for the project (e.g. the pupils saw the project as the teacher's business and not as their project). One of the hypotheses that emerged to explain the apparent inactivity of the pupils was their perception of “work”, which seemed to have been incompatible with a largely self‐determined activity. The study ends with the teacher's reflections on what he gained from the analysis. One outcome was an involuntary caution in the use of words in his interactions with pupils and a more intense feeling of respect for them as young personalities. Another was a reconstruction of his strategic approach to the design of project work.     

Teachers,social class and underachievement

Addressing the ‘the social class attainment gap’ in education has become a government priority in England. Despite multiple initiatives, however, little has effectively addressed the underachievement of working‐class pupils within the classroom. In order to develop clearer understandings of working‐class underachievement at this level, this small research study focused on local social processes by exploring how secondary school teachers identified and addressed underachievement in their classrooms. Our analysis shows how teachers’ identifications of underachieving pupils overlapped with, and were informed by, their tacit understanding of pupils’ social class position. While many teachers resisted the influence of social class, they used stereotypes to justify their practice and expectations, positioning pupils within educational and occupational hierarchies. This, we conclude, suggests the need for more systematic attention to the micro‐social processes that provide the conditions through which working‐class underachievement is produced.     

To assist or not to assist? A study of teachers’ views of the roles of learning support assistants in the provision of inclusive physical education in England

This paper examines teachers’ perceptions of their working relationships with learning support assistants (LSAs) when seeking to incorporate young disabled people and pupils with special educational needs (SEN) within mainstream physical education (PE), an area that has been a largely neglected aspect of research in inclusive education. The findings indicate that teachers spoke positively of these relationships when LSAs were perceived as making a positive contribution to the development of pupils’ learning and when they supported teachers as they did in other school subjects. Conversely, when LSAs and other support staff failed to provide teachers with information that was related to pupils’ needs in PE, and when LSAs did not possess the required skills, knowledge and expertise of the subject, teachers were rather critical of their relationships with them. In this regard, LSAs were seen as placing a particularly significant constraint on teachers’ ability to meet the needs of pupils in PE lessons. It is concluded that teachers’ perceptions of the constraints they experience from working with LSAs to help support pupils, and the extent and quality of support they receive, cannot be understood adequately unless they are located within the context of the relational constraints experienced by teachers.     

Education for children with severe and profound general learning disabilities in Ireland: factors influencing teachers’ decisions about teaching these pupils

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived high turnover of teachers working with pupils with severe and profound general learning disabilities in Ireland. Questionnaires and interviews were used to explore the situations in which teachers worked and their reasons for leaving or staying in teaching this group of pupils. The study found that while teachers were positive about working with this group, their working conditions and the level of support that they received were crucial factors in determining whether they remained in post. These factors and the implications for practice are discussed.     

Teacher Verbal Feedback Directed Towards Secondary Pupils with Challenging Behaviour and its Relationship to their Behaviour

There is a body of evidence that has linked teachers’ verbal feedback to pupils with pupil behaviour. In this study teacher verbal behaviour that was directed towards those pupils that the teachers had nominated as being especially difficult to teach was examined. A series of lessons was observed in a secondary school. The quality and quantity of teacher verbal feedback directed to the class as a whole and to the designated pupils was recorded, as was the on‐task behaviour of the pupils. It was found that the designated pupils were less on‐task than their peers and were more likely to ‘shout‐out’ in lessons. However, they were found to behave appropriately in well run lessons, where on‐task rates were high for all pupils. Teachers tended to give more attention to the designated pupils in the form of positive feedback directed towards their work, but also negative attention directed towards their behaviour. A positive relationship was found between teachers’ use of positive feedback and on‐task rates of the designated pupils. The results are discussed both in terms of the strategies used by teachers but also the effect that labelling of the pupils might have on the behaviour of the teachers and the pupils themselves.     

A right to be heard: learning from learners with additional needs in literacy

This study aimed to explore the consultation experiences of pupils who have additional needs in literacy. An opportunistic sample of eight schools – four in Northern Ireland and four in the Republic of Ireland – were chosen by the researchers; selected pupils were receiving additional literacy support. Focus group discussions and arts‐based creative methodologies were used through which visual and verbal stimuli supported and extended the narratives of the children. The findings showed that pupils have a capacity for self‐reflection and metacognitive talk around literacy. They had a keen awareness of their specific difficulties and the reading strategies they use. However, they wished for greater choice in how literacy support is organised and for more information about individual reading targets and scores. There was a great desire among pupils for consultation at meetings concerning their progress. Involving pupils in planning and evaluating their literacy learning needs as a fundamental right raises questions about teachers’ current protectiveness of pupils with additional needs.     

Enabling Key Stage 3 Students to Make Improvements to Their Own Writing

This paper reports a school‐based investigation into revision as a means of improving writing in the English classroom. It suggests that although pupils tend to perceive revision as a teacher‐directed, discrete stage in the writing process, during revision they engage in independent questioning, evaluation and employ a working model of audience as a guide to their operations. An approach to revision which involved pupils actively investigating each other's work, combined with an emphasis on multiple‐drafting, was trialled in the English Departments of two different schools. The findings suggest that this alternative approach creates a classroom context for improvement which is not teacher‐centred but embraces all students and highlights the potential for revision as an active learning process.     

Music and eJay: An opportunity for creative collaborations in the classroom

This paper draws on results of a research project InterActive Education: Teaching and Learning in the Information Age (see www.interactiveeducation.ac.uk). The overall aim of the project was to examine ways in which new technologies can be used in educational settings to enhance learning. Research was carried out across a range of school subjects: English, history, geography, mathematics, modern foreign languages, music and science. Within this paper we report on the work of two teachers within the same primary school who devised an initiative to support the development of composition skills of children aged 10 and 11, using Dance eJay software. We explore the ways in which collaborations took place between the pupils, arguing that eJay provides a rich mediational tool where creative outcomes are negotiated. We suggest that the computer workstation provides the mediational means by which all pupils – whether or not they possess formal instrumental skills – can be creative, working within a musical style in which they are culturally located. Furthermore, we propose that the teacher is central to the creative–collaborative process and suggest implications for teachers when planning for creative, collaborative work in the classroom using music software such as eJay.     

Notes on contributors

Social cohesion in school is reflected in social discrimination processes and the complementary social roles of teachers, pupils, other staff and pupils' relatives. School social cohesion varies in level from high, characterised by prosocial interactions, to low, characterised by antisocial or violent interactions. Antisocial behaviour is usually embedded in specific interaction patterns between different social actors and is based on specific motives or stereotypes that elicit or justify this behaviour. Comprehensive study of these patterns is enabled by information and communication technology (ICT). The aim of this study is to use ICT to investigate social interaction patterns between personal and school characteristics of secondary school teachers and their curricular and disciplinary characteristics and experience of violence, including the motives they perceive when they are the victim, perpetrator or witness of six types of violence, differentiated according to the complementary roles of pupils, other teachers, other school staff and pupils' relatives. Three questionnaires were developed and used in a nationwide Internet‐based survey in Dutch secondary schools. This school safety monitor was completed in 2006 by 5148 teachers, 80,770 pupils, 1749 educational support staff and 629 school managers. Data were checked for reliability, scale homogeneity and representativeness. Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the social interaction patterns in teachers' data. The results reveal violence‐specific social behaviour and social‐mirroring processes between teachers and pupils in particular. Furthermore, teachers who are younger, female or working in low‐attainment educational settings apply more curricular differentiation and collaborate more with pupils on disciplinary matters than their respective counterparts. Teachers who work in low‐attainment schools, who work in cities, who are homosexual/lesbian or who do not feel most at home in The Netherlands experience more violent behaviour as a victim or witness than their respective counterparts. In particular, teachers attribute the following motives to violence: physical appearance, behaviour, level of school achievement, a handicap, being religious, gender, sexual preference and ways of dealing with non‐conforming behaviour or punishments. Compared to teachers, pupils gave a broad array of motives for every type of violence. The conclusion is that Internet‐based data‐collection procedures provide a more comprehensive and systematic picture of social discrimination and violence motive patterns in schools than has hitherto been customary.     

The effect of stimulating immigrant and national pupils’ helping behaviour during cooperative learning in classrooms on their maths‐related talk

This study examined whether stimulation of immigrant and national pupils’ use of high‐quality helping behaviour (experimental condition) during cooperative learning (CL) in classrooms boosts their maths‐related talk more than in an educational situation in which such stimulation is largely absent (control condition). A total of 59 elementary‐age pupils enrolled in a CL maths curriculum of 11 lessons. They were video taped during two lessons while working together on maths assignments to assess their maths‐related talk. We found that the quality of maths‐related talk was higher in the experimental condition. Furthermore, immigrant pupils’ used less maths‐related talk than the national pupils. Implications are discussed.     

From ‘consulting pupils’ to ‘pupils as researchers’: a situated case narrative

Schools in England are now being encouraged to ‘personalise’ the curriculum and to consult students about teaching and learning. This article reports on an evaluation of one high school which is working hard to increase student subject choice, introduce integrated curriculum in the middle years and to improve teaching and learning while maintaining a commitment to inclusive and equitable comprehensive education. The authors worked with a small group of students as consultants to develop a ‘student's‐eye’ set of evaluative categories in a school‐wide student survey. They also conducted teacher, student and governor interviews, lesson and meeting observations, and student ‘mind‐mapping’ exercises. In this article, in the light of the findings, the authors discuss the processes they used to work jointly with the student research team, and how they moved from pupils‐as‐consultants to pupils‐as‐researchers, a potentially more transformative/disruptive practice. They query the notion of ‘authentic student voice’ and show it as discursive and heterogeneous: they thus suggest that both a standards and a rights framings of student voice must be regarded critically.     

Changes in perceptions of studying for the GCSE among Year 10 and Year 11 pupils

This research aimed to explore whether pupils’ perceptions of studying for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) altered during the two‐year period of study of this qualification. Six hundred and forty four pupils from eight schools in outer London completed a self‐report questionnaire on two occasions, once in Year 10 and once in Year 11, which elicited their responses to statements about studying. Overall, throughout the course pupils remained anxious about coursework, examinations and homework and the time required for them. There was little evidence that pupils developed an increased level of understanding about the demands of the GCSE or a wider range of study strategies to support effective learning. That the students in this research remained as uncertain about the demands of coursework and the quality of their work in Year 11 as Year 10 warrants attention from those who plan and deliver the GCSE.     

Educational dialogues and the fostering of pupils' independence: the practices of two teachers

If the purpose of an educational system is to guide pupils towards achieving independence, then certain conditions about the design and conduct of that system must be met. In this paper, those conditions are formulated from a socio‐cultural perspective on learning and development. This paper examines the extent to which those conditions were fulfilled by teachers judged ‘good’ by their pupils and by school management in a case‐study in two Montessori secondary schools. Because discourse is assumed to play a central role when pupils work on assignments with the teacher assisting them, dialogues occurring in various teaching‐learning situations were analysed. The types of language genre used by the teachers and pupils were found to be important characteristics of the ongoing dialogues. The main results were that ‘good’ teachers excel in the adoption of a personal approach to pupils, but they work much more intuitively than systematically or deliberately to stimulate pupils' development of higher mental functions.     

The role of the special needs assistant supporting pupils with special educational needs in Irish mainstream primary schools

In this article the author describes a small‐scale study into the role of the special needs assistant (SNA) supporting the inclusion of pupils with learning difficulties in the Irish Republic. The findings regarding the perspectives of teachers, principals, SNAs, pupils supported by SNAs and their parents on the support offered to three pupils are also described. The actual (as distinct from the prescribed) role of SNAs, including the issue of SNAs working in a general rather than a pupil‐specific capacity, and the nature of the SNA‐teacher relationship are discussed. The main findings emerging from the data were that the role of the SNA is one of both education and care and that SNAs are a welcome support for inclusion. Issues emerging from the study include the need for effective communication and planning, shared understanding of the role and responsibilities of SNAs and ongoing monitoring of the way in which support is provided.