Promoting school libraries and schools library services: problems and partnerships

Literuture Matters was a two‐year, national programme in England designed to promote partnerships between schools library services and initial teacher training institutions. Its aim was to raise awareness of the role of the schools library service in promoting children's books and reading for pleasure. There were positive effects, in the short term, on student teachers, teacher educators and library staff. Potentially sustainable partnerships were developed, but structures and funding are needed to ensure a long term impact over new teachers' careers.     

Cyberbullying: A preliminary assessment for school personnel

Because of the advent and growth of technology, a new variation of bullying—cyberbullying—has transformed from the physical to the virtual. Cyberbullying is a form of psychological cruelty. Although cyberbullying usually occurs off school grounds, schools are experiencing its repercussions (Li, 2006). This article provides an overview of cyberbullying, defines the difference between bullying and cyberbullying, and provides a psychological explanation of cyberbullying behaviors and the psychological impact of cyberbullying. The review of literature suggests that there is a lapse in preventative intervention to create and maintain awareness and safety for young people. Implications and guidelines are provided for school personnel to address this problem and develop prevention strategies. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A professional development framework for online teaching

The quality of online programs in higher education is strongly correlated with how the professional development approaches respond to the needs of online teachers. These approaches are critical in helping online teachers adopt online pedagogical practices and reconstruct their teacher persona in an online environment. This study proposes a nested professional development framework for online teaching. The proposed framework intends to recognize successful online teaching in higher education as an outcome of the interaction of support activities at teaching, community, and organization levels.     

Interpersonal violence among youth: A challenge for school personnel

Although interpersonal violence in the school setting is not a new phenomenon, the problem has escalated considerably in this last decade. Both urban and rural school systems are being affected. This paper seeks to explore the extent of interpersonal violence and its impact on students and school personnel. The multiple factors that lead to school violence are examined. Select curricula used in school systems to reduce or prevent violence are highlighted. The article emphasizes that student violence is not a problem limited to the school environment, but one that should and must find a solution through cooperation of all the institutions present in the community, family included. Finally, suggestions are presented for developing preventive strategies.     

A design framework for online teacher professional development communities

This paper provides a design framework for building online teacher professional development communities for preservice and inservice teachers. The framework is based on a comprehensive literature review on the latest technology and epistemology of online community and teacher professional development, comprising four major design factors and three contextual factors. The design factors include learning goals, communication tools, participant structures, and member responsibilities; the contextual factors are culture, politics, and economics. Finally, the role of universities and implications of the design framework for teacher professional development in the new culture of learning are discussed.     

Stress management for school personnel: Stress-inoculation training and exercise

This study evaluated the effectiveness of Stress-Inoculation Training (SIT) with and without an exercise component and a Minimal exercise treatment (MIN) on trait anxiety, teacher stress, and coping strategies among 66 school personnel. The findings indicate that the 8-week SIT with an exercise component was more effective than MIN in reducing anxiety and teacher stress. Both groups significantly decreased emotionfocused coping and increased preventive coping; however, problem-focused coping did not change. SIT without an exercise component did not significantly affect anxiety, stress, or coping strategies; however, there is some evidence that this was due to the cyclical nature of stress in the schools. Changes in teacher stress and coping strategies occurred mainly for those who were below the median of the sample on physical fitness and anxiety prior to beginning the program. Implications of these findings for school-based stress management programs are discussed.     

Supporting online collaborative design for teacher professional development

ABSTRACT

This article describes a study of online collaborative design in the context of teacher professional development. Twenty-five teachers from different Spanish universities participated in the online course. The aim was to understand how to support teachers in interuniversity teams to collaborate fully online throughout the learning design process of a scenario based on their discipline integrating information and communications technology (ICT), an issue scarcely tackled in the literature. The described interpretive study, using mixed methods, explores the support of online co-design provided by a novel ICT community platform named ILDE (Integrated Learning Design Environment). Lessons drawn from the results can contribute to the improvement of online collaborative design processes in the context of teacher professional development.     

Transitions to school: reframing professional relationships

Systemic splits between pre-compulsory and compulsory early years education impact on transitions to school through discontinuities in children’s experience. This paper presents data from a critical participatory action research project about transitions between pre-compulsory and compulsory early education schooling in Australia. The project aim was to investigate how transitions to school might be enhanced by developing deeper professional relationships and shared understandings between teachers from both sectors. Within the communicative space afforded by a professional learning community, the participants engaged in critical conversations about their understandings of transitions practices and conditions, including systemic differences. Data analysis provides a snapshot of changes in teachers’ thinking about professional relationships, continuity and factors influencing cross-sectoral professional relationships. Findings suggest that affording opportunities for teachers to re-frame cross-sectoral professional relationships has led to transformative changes to transitions practices, understandings and conditions.     

动画专业校企合作、产教结合人才培养模式的构建

校企合作、产教结合的人才培养模式能够打破以往传统的动画人才培养模式,利用产业、学校等多个相互独立的实体通过合作的形式进行教学模式的更新,使动画专业学生提前适应企业项目制作过程,积攒工作与操作经验,实现企业需求与人才培养的无缝对接。     

高校图书馆人才资源开发浅析

对当前图书馆人才资源管理过程中存在的问题进行了探讨，并提出了开发人才资源的一些做法。     

A five level intervention model: division of professional labor and implication for school counseling

Mental-health services can contribute substantially to many areas of school life, but the nature and effectiveness of these contributions depend to a large degree on the willingness of the personnel involved to work as a team and to develop new perspectives and practices. This article presents a five level model of mental-health intervention in the school setting and posits a division of responsibility for that intervention among the school psychologist, the school guidance counselor and the teacher. Implications for a school-counselor preparation program are discussed.     

Designing your web site for instructional effectiveness and completeness: First steps

TechTrends - Developing and publishing Web sites is becoming almost trivially easy today, and there are many sites on the Web nowadays that purport to be instructional in one way or another. In...