Towards a literacy of fusion: new times,new teaching and learning?

This paper seeks to widen discussion about which forms of literacy are most appropriate for the education of children in the twenty‐first century. It outlines the current debate about the changes to children's literacy practices, which are described as being prompted on the one hand by the pervasive influence in society of new technologies, and on the other by the extent of pupils' engagement with popular culture. Using a single example, representative of a number of classroom action research studies devised by the author in which children's own interests were used to motivate writing, she argues that what is required from teachers is a transformative pedagogy. This would allow children's cultural interest to be merged with the school requirements into what is described as a literacy of fusion . The paper ends with an outline of the aspects of learning to which a teacher working to create such forms of literacy would need to attend.     

A collaborative case study of teacher change: From a personal to a professional perspective

This 5-year case study of teacher change documents an elementary classroom teacher's transition from a personal to a professional perspective. In this transition she moves from classroom concerns that feel individually determined to an awareness of the historical and socio-political nature of educational ideas and teaching practices. The teacher and researchers' interpretations of this transition are each included and their process of collaboration to construct them is described.     

The interplay of a biology teacher's beliefs,teaching practices and gender-based student-teacher classroom interaction

Cross-relationships among a Taiwanese seventh-grade biology teacher's beliefs, practices and classroom interaction with either male or female students were qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. Results show that the teacher's classroom practices reflect her teaching philosophy, which she described in interviews held before and throughout the class observation period. Gender-based characteristics clearly play an important role in establishing and maintaining differences in interactions between male or female students and their teacher in this particular classroom. Data collected from classroom observations show that the subject teacher's beliefs concerning boy/girl differences in learning style and classroom participation are reinforced or sustained by her behaviour, which includes unequal distribution of direct questions, unbalanced feedback and encouragement, and a lack of restrictive controls on calling out answers.     

The “least intrusive intervention” strategy for behavior change procedures: The use of public and private feedback in school classrooms

Many classroom behavior modification procedures have failed to be adopted by practicing classroom teachers because the procedures are overly intrusive into the regular classroom routine. A strategy for teachers and consultants which moves from less to more intrusive interventions is described and demonstrated with a case example. Private feedback was ineffective in reducing a child's inappropriate behavior, but the introduction of public feedback resulted in a decrease in inappropriate behavior to below the class average. Attitudinal measures of the teacher's evaluation of the child and his selfevaluation were related to the child's behavior during the public feedback procedure.     

Students' Consent to a Teacher's Pedagogical Authority

In this paper student comments are examined to identify a typology of demands for granting their consent to a teacher's pedagogical authority. The data for this study (136 written responses and 66 interviews) have been collected from students in a Finnish comprehensive school and examined by means of a theory-bounded content analysis. The results show that the students in this study expressed views which amounted to a typology of demands. If their demands are met, students will grant consent to their teacher's pedagogical authority and, consequently, allow the teaching, studying, and learning of the content under consideration. Securing students' consent to authority in the classroom will provide a new perspective on the phenomenon of a teacher's pedagogical authority. It is argued that a teacher's pedagogical authority and student consent to pedagogical authority are complementary ways of sharing power in the classroom and bringing about a pattern of empowerment.     

Computer use within a play-based early years curriculum

Early years curricula promote learning through play and in addition emphasise the development of computer literacy. Previous research, however, has described that teachers feel unprepared to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and play. Also, whereas research has suggested that effective computer use in the early years is associated with adult direction, further research suggests adult presence can inhibit play and reduce children's engagement. Focusing on 12 settings following the Welsh play-based Foundation Phase, this paper explores teachers' experiences of integrating computer use into classroom practice, children's levels of engagement with computer activities and how playful children perceive computer use to be. Teachers confidently delivered a variety of computing experiences. Children consistently rated these activities as play regardless of adult presence and demonstrated moderate to high levels of engagement. Findings and the features of observed practice are discussed in relation to the teachers' role as a play partner and the successful co-construction of the play-based curriculum.     

Dichotomy in thinking,dilemma in actions: Researcher and teacher perspectives on a chemistry teaching practice

This article is a case study of the thinking and actions of Mr. Corrigan, an experienced high school chemistry teacher. We explored Corrigan's ideas on teaching science by conducting two types of interviews, and wrote a case summary for Corrigan to read that compared his ideas with our classroom observations. We described his practice as centering on structured classroom and laboratory time, and contrasted it with his emphasis on students' exploratory thinking in the interviews. Corrigan's reflections on the case summary revealed a set of tacit conceptions of teaching science centered on the necessity of having a highly organized classroom and laboratory to ensure students' content understanding and success on tests and in college. We felt Corrigan faced a dilemma in that he values both his control of learning activities and the students' learning through exploration. Corrigan was confident in his practice and did not see much of a dilemma, and felt he was attending to both aspects of his thinking in an adequate fashion. Corrigan's reflections on the case summary are presented as a commentary on our perspective of the relationship between his thinking and actions. Working with Corrigan revealed to us the complexity of characterizing a teacher's thinking and its relationship to actions, and the value of the insight researchers gain from discussing their conclusions with the teacher. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 239–254, 1997.     

Assessment from a Sociocultural Perspective: Narratives from a first grade classroom

This study focuses on observations of classroom conversation as an approach to assessment of relationships between a teacher's teaching and pupils' learning and identity‐development processes. Detailed observation notes from two conventional conversation situations from a first grade classroom are written down as narratives and analysed within a sociocultural theoretical framework. Three significant themes emerge: (1) How the teacher sees the pupils, (2) How she connects with them, and (3) How she wanders on together with them. Together these themes function as strong “process motors” demonstrating how a teacher's support and scaffolding add positive influences to children's learning and personal growth. The study concludes that writing down information from classroom observations in a narrative genre manufactures excellent opportunities for revealing, describing, interpreting, and evaluating significant relationships between a teacher's teaching and pupils' learning and identity development.     

‘A place of their own’: creating a classroom ‘third space’ to support a continuum of text construction between home and school

This paper uses aspects of ‘third space’ theory to support the use of site‐based classroom role play as a means of ensuring continuity of text construction between home and school. A hypothetical continuum of text construction between home and school is described, and it is suggested that schools wishing to support this continuum might consider incorporating some home‐type contexts and pedagogies into classroom practice. A model of site‐based role play is described that aims to do this by setting up an actual third space in primary classrooms, together with some of the educational outcomes of the model's implementation. Implications for schools and family learning programmes are briefly discussed. In conclusion, the paper argues that if we want curriculum continuity between home and school, we need to create ‘third spaces’ in schools that bring together the experiences and pedagogies of both.     

Are teachers’ education,major, and credentials related to classroom quality and children's academic gains in pre-kindergarten?

To date, few studies of state-funded pre-kindergarten have fully addressed questions about the association between teachers’ education, major, and credentials with classroom quality or children's academic gains. The current paper uses data from the National Center for Early Development and Learning's (NCEDL) Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten, involving 237 pre-kindergarten classrooms and over 800 children, randomly selected from six states with well-established state-funded pre-kindergarten programs. The study includes multiple days of classroom observation, direct child assessments of children's early academic skills in the fall and spring of the pre-kindergarten year, and questionnaires from teachers. For the current paper, teachers’ education has been operationalized in three different ways (years of education, highest degree, and Bachelor's versus no Bachelor's). Additionally, the paper considers the role of college major, state teaching certification, and CDA credential. Consistent with findings in the K-12 literature, this study finds few associations between any of the measures of education, major, or credentials and classroom quality or children's outcomes. Teachers’ education, regardless of how it is operationalized, is linked to gains in children's math skills across the pre-k year, and the CDA credential is linked to children's gains in basic skills; however, education, training, and credentialing are not consistently related to classroom quality or other academic gains for children.     

Identification and subjectivity in a Year-3 classroom: using Lacan's mirror stage to analyse ethnographic data

This paper is a re-engagement with some ethnographic data, originally analysed using a sociocultural approach. It makes use of a recent proposal that Lacan's ‘mirror stage’ when applied to an analysis of classroom settings and interactions can offer a fruitful way of explaining and understanding classroom lives, identities and subjectivities. In this re-engagement, use is also made of Lacan's theory of subjectivity. An account is offered of the particular influence of the teacher in two learners' lives and the relationship of this to the learner identities, regulation, subjectivity and school achievement. The paper demonstrates and argues that psychoanalytic theory has a place in the analysis of ethnographic data, taking us beyond the rational, meaning-making teacher and learner to include the affective and emotional aspects of classroom life and their implication in identity and learning.     

Talking about science: An interpretation of the effects of teacher talk in a high school science classroom

This paper builds on research in science education, secondary education, and sociolinguistics by arguing that high school classrooms can be considered speech communities in which language may be selectively used and imposed on students as a means of fostering academic speech community identification. To demonstrate the ways in which a high school teacher's language use may encourage subject area identification, the results of an interactionist analysis of data from a 2-year ethnographic study of one high school chemistry classroom are presented. Findings indicate that this teacher's uses of language fell into three related categories. These uses of language served to foster identification with the academic speech community of science. As a result of the teacher's talk about science according to these three patterns, students developed or reinforced particular views of science. In addition, talking about science in ways that fostered identity with the discipline promoted the teacher as expert and built classroom solidarity or community. These results are discussed in light of sociolinguistic research on classroom competence and of the assertions of science educators regarding social and ideologic implications of language use in science instruction.     

Becoming a teacher educator: a personal perspective

This paper examines various aspects of the author's transition from classroom teacher to a cooperating teacher and then from cooperating teacher to university teacher educator. This analysis is used as the basis for several specific suggestions for how to improve the preparation of the next generation of teacher educators and teacher education programs.     

Creativity in events and practices: a lens for understanding children's multimodal texts

This article argues that it is possible to look at children's texts in relation to the lens of literacy events and practices from the New Literacy Studies, and apply this perspective to an understanding of creativity. Teachers can then use the possibilities within a text to ask children different kinds of questions. Drawing on a 2‐year ethnographic study of a partnership between a group of artists and teachers in an Infants School in England, and their impact on children's text‐making, the paper seeks to understand the ways in which such a text can be identified as creative. A detailed analysis of one child's text is offered as evidence of this argument. This account is set within a project to map children's play in a Foundation classroom.     

The Counselor as a Developmental Instructor

The role of a developmental instructor is described as the use of information about students to structure classroom environments to maximize personal growth and mastery of subject matter. The subject matter for one course “Themes in Human Identity” was drawn from current and classical literature. Developmental change was assessed according to Perry's model of ethical and intellectual development of college students. Twentyeight of thirty-one students showed positive change.     

History and current conditions

I was enormously struck by the fact that there are two cultures in the academy today. There's the culture of the classroom and there's the culture of life outside the classroom, and these are enormously divided. The classroom culture has a clear academic goal and on many campuses the out-of-classroom experience has no guidance, little purpose, and often the climate can he described as Low-grade decadence. (Boyer Address 1988, p. 4)     

Exploring the tactfulness of implementing play in the classroom: a Hong Kong experience

‘Learning through play’ in early childhood education is widely advocated, but studies show that play is not easily enacted in classrooms. The quality of learning through play has been questioned in various countries, especially when learning outcomes are a global concern. This paper examines how one teacher implemented learning through play within a formal and didactic Hong Kong pre-school classroom. Following this real-life adaptation of the play pedagogy, this paper aims to illuminate the practical theories of linking play with learning in the classroom. The findings support the adoption of ‘play’ in young children's learning and reveal tactful ways in which a teacher can encourage the evolving ‘flow’ of children's play while simultaneously scaffolding their learning. The paper analyses the tact involved in the above process and suggests key dimensions for realizing ‘learning through play’ in the classroom.     

Beginning first graders' “invented spelling” ability and their performance in functional classroom writing activities

A procedure was designed and used for quickly and informally assessing young children's knowledge of letter-sound correspondences using an “invented spelling” task. The procedure is described in detail for adaptation and use by others. The emphasis is on obtaining information for use in classrooms where children's experimentation with, and individual progress in, writing are encouraged. Results with one class of beginning first graders are described in terms of class percentages of words and word parts spelled conventionally and in other systematic ways. Four children's performances are analyzed separately as examples of different stages of awareness. Functional writing activities in this first-grade class are described. Samples from the four children's classroom writing are compared with their performances during the assessment procedure.     

Toward a functional learning system for Solomon Island secondary science classrooms

This paper uses a model of Melanesian Solomon Islanders' informal learning system derived from participant observation and interview data to analyse classroom interactions at the senior secondary level. Key learning strategies in the Melanesian informal learning system are observation, imitation, listening, participation and asking. Key contextual elements described pertain to the maintenance of interpersonal relationships, kin‐group and peer‐oriented learning, and epistemology, sociolinguistics and time orientation. This analysis is used to enhance the attainment of classroom goals through the development of a functional learning system for laboratory‐oriented science lessons comprising teaching strategies and classroom management techniques which incorporate particular elements of the Melanesian informal learning system. Evidence is presented supporting the selective use of observation, active imitation, listening and participation in a classroom context which maintains respect between participants and assigns roles to them in ways congruent with Melanesian cultural norms.