Teacher Praise and Feedback and Students' Perceptions of the Classroom Environment

The relationships between teacher praise and feedback, and students' perceptions of the classroom environment were investigated in six rural elementary schools (n = 747). The Teacher Feedback Scale and My Classroom Scale were developed as part of this study and used to collect the data. Structural equation modelling was used to test a hypothesised model. The results indicated that negative teacher feedback and effort feedback were both related to students' relationships with their teachers, while ability feedback was associated with perceptions of the classroom environment. Praise was not related to classroom environment or teacher-student relationships. Significant age and gender differences were found. Additionally, differences were found between students who were satisfied with their classroom and those who were dissatisfied. Satisfied students received more general praise, general ability feedback, effort feedback and less negative teacher feedback when compared to dissatisfied students.     

Frames for emotional expressions across discourse forms in an ecology course

ABSTRACT

Research on emotions illustrates a range of emotions that students and teachers experience, both individually and as a collective, in science learning settings. However, not as much attention has been given to how opportunities for emotional expressions are framed. Since emotions and their expressions are embedded in the discourse in which they are constructed, this research sought to describe the ways in which expectations for emotional expressions were constructed during an ecology course for education undergraduates. Utilising sociolinguistics, emotional expressions were examined across and within forms of discourse (discourse events, written artifacts) to make salient how cues informed the number of emotions expressed. Data sources were ethnographic field notes, video recordings, and written artifacts from an entire semester of the course. The specific features of the emotional frames in discourse events and on written artifacts are presented. Contrast points are utilised to showcase the ways different emotional frames were constituted by the members of the course under different conditions and across discourse forms. Implications for considering how to support learners’ emotional expressions within a science classroom are discussed.     

Alternative Assessment Portfolios for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: A Case Study

Abstract

Twenty‐eight classroom teachers identified students in their rooms who were low achievers, at‐risk learners; low achievers, not at risk; average achievers; and special education students. We videotaped these students during reading lessons conducted by their teachers. Using a stimulated recall procedure, we interviewed teachers and asked them to report their thought processes during instruction, especially those that pertained to the target children. We found that teachers reported significantly more negative thoughts about at‐risk learners' than about average achievers' attending behavior and ability‐performance. Furthermore, at‐risk learners received a greater number of comments focused on the need to monitor their performance. Special education students received significantly more positive and negative comments about attending than did average achievers. In addition, they received more miscellaneous positive comments than did low, not at‐risk, and average achievers. Finally, teachers reported making more classroom modifications for this group than for average students. Implications for prereferral classroom interventions are discussed.     

Students and Support for Technology in the Elementary Classroom

Summary

This paper explores the roles of students supporting technology in elementary classrooms. Students' primary role in the classroom is not to support teachers, but with technology, teachers take advantage of support in many forms. This paper classifies the ways in which students were found to support technology in the classroom, taking advantage of their expertise to help the teacher and other students. In some cases, students' efforts provided positive benefits to the teacher and other students, and in other cases, the students' efforts caused more problems than they solved.     

Feedback processing and emotion regulation in nursing students during internship

IntroductionAs feedback that nursing students receive during internships triggers emotional episodes, it results in changes in self-esteem, motivation, and learning behaviors. The adaptive or maladaptive nature of emotions is modulated via emotion regulation strategies.MethodTo understand how the students experienced and acted upon these emotional episodes, we applied an existential phenomenological approach.ResultsStudents experience a wide range of emotions in feedback situations. These emotions regularly require the use of emotion regulation strategies. We have described three kinds of such strategies. Based on the results of this and previous studies, we have developed a comprehensive model of feedback processing by students in the context of nursing internships, in which emotions and their regulation are central.DiscussionEmotion regulation strategies are often unconscious and should be developed by students during their training, especially in consciously designed feedback conditions of teachers and instructors, in which students should feel understood, respected, and invited to actively involve themselves in the processing of feedback. Finally, we make a few recommendations to education professionals.ConclusionsFeedback processing by future nurses during internships involves a complex emotional process that affects their behavior, either conducive to learning or not. Emotion regulation strategies may be required in these situations. Moreover, students' emotions are influenced by various determinants, which evolve in a circular dynamic as feedback occurs over time.     

Figures of speech in the physics classroom: a process of conceptual change

Background: This study investigates the role of figures of speech in the process of conceptual change in the physics classroom. Purpose: Its objectives are to examine what teachers and students perceive to be the advantages in using figures of speech in teaching physics concepts, what they perceive to be the challenges in using them, and how teachers use these in their classrooms to minimize the challenges faced. Sample We chose a purposive sample of 95 students and nine teachers of physics, in four schools in Lebanon. Design and methods: A mixed-method approach was used. Interviews were conducted with physics teachers; questionnaires were distributed to students, and non-participant classroom observations were carried out. Results: Teachers viewed figures of speech as a tool that helps them transmit abstract physics concepts to students in a simpler and concrete way. Questionnaires and non-participant observations revealed several examples of figures of speech used and the positive responses of students towards them. Conclusions: The study suggests several ways to overcome the drawbacks. This study highlights the urgent need for all stakeholders to work collaboratively to include figures of speech in the curriculum to enhance the process of conceptual change in the physics classroom.     

Teachers’ use of research evidence in practice: a pilot study of feedback to enhance learning

Background: There is worldwide interest in improving the effectiveness of teachers and teaching. This paper considers two strands of that interest. It revisits the impact of using enhanced feedback from teachers to pupils as a way of improving attainment, and it looks at the feasibility of teachers using research evidence to create their own interventions. Current evidence on the causal impact of effective feedback on learning is unclear: many studies have mixed results, are small in scale, lack randomisation or are not conducted in real classroom conditions. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to describe the experience of schools as they engage with research evidence to support their own enquiry into the effectiveness of feedback in the classroom. Research design: This study took place over one academic year, involving nine treatment schools in one local authority. The study involved teachers themselves using research findings to create an intervention, which took, as its focus, enhanced feedback in the classroom. Test results from these schools were compared to the results in 5 participating comparator schools, to the 49 other schools in the borough and to all state-funded primary schools in England. Results: Although teachers showed that they could engage with research evidence, the study indicated that the process was complex in practice. In addition, the independent impact evaluation suggested that enhanced feedback in itself does not necessarily lead to improved pupil test performance. Discussion and conclusions: The paper considers some of the challenges faced by teachers as they attempted to use research evidence, and discusses implications for schools wishing to use research evidence in practice. The findings of the study suggest that it may be feasible for practitioners to use research evidence to inform their own practice. However, to do it well would require clearer guidance, professional development and modelling of any strategies suggested. These findings have implications for policy on teacher development, and for the research community to make research outputs more comprehensible and accessible to research users.     

Mainstream teachers about including deaf or hard of hearing students

This study is aimed at teachers’ classroom practices and their beliefs and emotions regarding the inclusion of deaf or hard of hearing (d/hh) students in mainstream secondary schools. Nine teachers in two schools were interviewed about the inclusion of d/hh students. These teachers were found to consider the d/hh students’ needs in their teaching practice. However, they showed less willingness to be considerate when the student showed a negative work attitude. With regard to teachers’ emotions, positive as well as negative emotions were reported, like enjoyment and frustration. Based on our findings, teachers’ pedagogies in inclusive classrooms are discussed.     

Feedback sessions as mediation spaces: empowering teacher candidates to deepen instructional knowledge and engage in the construction and transformation of theory in practice

ABSTRACT

The process of engaging in classroom research provides teacher candidates with opportunities to enter into the kind of deep, self-reflective work that we believe is an important capacity to build in teachers as they begin to engage in the construction and transformation of theory and knowledge within their own unique contexts. Our Action Research (AR) process involves multiple opportunities throughout their coursework, advising, and feedback sessions to try to promote the development of this capacity. These opportunities serve as a holding space where candidates are both supported and challenged through interactions with their research advisors, other faculty members, their peers, and panelists consisting of educators from the field. In this paper, we present what we believe to be important elements of AR that emerged from our final feedback sessions with 13 teacher candidates in our program as they prepared for the professional presentations. We found that considering these feedback sessions as mediation spaces (1) empowers teacher candidates to externalize and deepen personal understandings of their research through dialogical discourse with expert others, and (2) negotiate their power and emerging practitioner researcher identities.     

Raising the language awareness of pre‐service English teachers in an EFL context

This study investigates the challenges that non‐native pre‐service English teachers (Haluk, Gaye, Selin, Öznur and Serkan) experience in their target language use when they do their practicum in actual language classrooms. This study found that the common difficulties the student teachers encounter related to certain grammatical structures, explaining unknown words to students, modifying language according to students’ level, and authenticity of the classroom language. During this study, the target language awareness training session was offered by the university supervisor in order to improve the student teachers’ target language use in the classroom. The training sessions included classroom observations, feedback sessions, semi‐structured interviews, retrospective protocols and discussion meetings with the student teachers. The findings indicated that the language awareness training had a positive impact on the target language use of the pre‐service English teachers. Furthermore, this study discusses the curriculum and the requirements of the language teacher education programme in an EFL setting and makes suggestions for the professional development of non‐native pre‐service language teachers.     

Decolonising dominant knowledge constructions in the education of immigrant youth in Canada

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the dominant knowledge construction in Canadian public schools. Using the grounded theory approach, thirty-six Chinese Canadian youths and young adults were interviewed in Alberta. Drawing on critical, anticolonial and Bourdieusian perspectives, I argue that some teachers’ racialised habitus and biased knowledge constructions devalued the indigenous knowledges that immigrant youth bring to the classroom. Moreover, they reproduced anti-immigrant discourses and reinforced racial hierarchies in Canadian society. As a consequence, they negatively affect the identity construction of immigrant descendants and undermine their attempts to negotiate a sense of belonging in Canada. I argue that decolonising dominant knowledge constructions requires challenging teachers’ racialised habitus in teaching and their interactions with immigrant students.     

My house of value: school intervention programme investigating aspects of self-knowing,knowing of the other,identity, diversity and interaction

The project My house of value was implemented at a fourth grade primary school classroom for 10-year-old students in Nicosia, Cyprus. The main goal of the project was to examine how pupils realise identity and diversity in their broad sense, how they deal with stereotypical thoughts and how they understand interaction in both positive and negative ways. This was achieved through certain activities during the art lesson, which gave them the opportunity to express themselves in various ways. The method included observation and discussion in classroom, analysis of teachers' diaries and students' works and interviews with students reflecting on the various activities of the project. The final results showed that many pupils could realise that the diversities between identities are more than similarities, but this fact was not necessarily negative. They also became aware of stereotypical thinking concerning the self and the other. They also realised the complication of human intercultural encounters since emotions and experiences are involved. Finally, they concluded that the different ways of knowing the other include different means of communication. The implementation of the project showed that such activities can have a positive impact on pupils especially if they are incorporated in everyday curriculum and classroom practice.     

Talking modelling: examining secondary science teachers’ modelling-related talk during a model-based inquiry unit

This study examines the classroom talk about models and modelling of two secondary science teachers implementing a model-based inquiry instructional unit. The goal was to better understand the opportunities for explicit metamodeling talk in the science classroom. The findings revealed the ways in which they used language to frame the modelling work of the classroom. Instances of modelling talk were identified in classroom videos, and coded using a framework for metamodeling knowledge. Findings revealed that, while instances of metamodeling talk were common, they were largely implicit. This shows that the teachers were aware and knowledgeable about metamodeling ideas (e.g. the nature of models, process of modelling, etc.), but often did not make these ideas explicit to their students. Such findings suggest a trend of focusing on models of phenomena rather than supporting student engagement in the epistemic practice of modelling for reasoning about phenomena. The findings also revealed specific opportunities for explicit metamodeling talk by the teachers including during share-out sessions and the negotiation of explanation criteria. Further implications for classroom practice and research are discussed.     

The Politics of Emotions in ELT: Structure of Feeling and Anxiety of Korean English Teachers

ABSTRACT

Using the notion of structure of feeling by Raymond Williams, this article seeks to illuminate an ideological understanding of Korean English teachers’ anxiety and deep sense of insecurity in English language teaching (ELT). Through a discussion of how their anxiety is grounded deeply within unequal social relations and how they reframe their anxiety through critical reflection on the cultural and ideological bias of their own anxiety, it points out the intricate relationship between ideology and emotion; teachers’ emotions are shaped by dominant ideologies that constitute the social structures constraining their position as teachers, while their engagement with those emotions also enables their self-transformation towards gaining confidence as teachers. The results of the study emphasise the tension between social structure and agency in teachers’ emotional experiences and discuss implications for teacher education and development.     

Taking and teaching the test are not the same: a case study of first-year teachers’ experiences in high-stakes contexts

Background: Policymakers’ use of high-stakes exams to improve students’ academic achievement affects teachers and their tenure in the field at all levels of schooling. Novice teachers now being inducted into the field have been educated almost exclusively in these high-stakes learning environments. Yet, how their familiarity with these contexts combined with their experiences in their own classrooms affect novices’ induction into the field of teaching has not been fully examined. Aim: This article presents findings from an investigation into the experiences of two first-year teachers who were educated and trained to be teachers in the same high-stakes education system in which they taught. It examines how these first-year teachers viewed policymakers’ reforms affecting their teaching and tenure in the field. Methods: This qualitative case study centers on the experiences of two first-year teachers working in the same high-stakes standards-based accountability teaching context in which they were educated – the case. This study provides insight into the issue of how novices’ familiarity with high-stakes reform combined with their experiences in their own classrooms impacts their conceptions of their teaching and their tenure in the field. Outcomes: The findings from this case study reveal how policymakers’ high-stakes reforms impacted the development of these novice teachers in significant ways. Not only did they have to learn how to teach as they taught, but they also had to ensure they were teaching all of their students to pass the high-stakes exams. Their varied experiences also demonstrate how these high-stakes exams can ‘test’ beginning teachers out of the classroom. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that first-year teachers’ familiarity with policymakers’ high-stakes reforms is not enough to prepare them for the expectation that they immediately improve students’ academic achievement on high-stakes exams. Such findings not only challenge what it means to be a educator in these contexts, but they also shed light on how larger political and economic forces impact the teaching and tenure of novices. To support new teachers, teacher educators and mentors should rethink the education and induction processes while helping novices understand as well as prepare for the role context plays in their teaching and development as professionals.     

Teachers' instruction of noncategorically grouped handicapped children

Abstract

The sample for this study consisted of 46 noncategorically identified handicapped students who had been assigned to functionally grouped self‐contained classes. For purposes of this research, only a child study team reevaluated the students and supplied a label, learning disabled or emotionally disturbed. We observed all students on at least nine occasions on three behaviors: teachers' academic questions directed toward them, extended feedback from teachers, and dyadic work interactions. Although the special education classroom teachers did not know the labeled identity of any student in the class, they instructed the two groups differently. They instructed the emotionally disturbed children with fewer instances of academic questioning, less extended feedback for their responses, and fewer dyadic work interactions.     

Longitudinal perspectives on students’ experiences of feedback: a need for teacher–student partnerships

ABSTRACT

How students react to and use feedback is an important element of their higher education experience. Within the constraints of mass higher education, effective feedback processes are, however, difficult to manage. The aim of this longitudinal qualitative inquiry is to investigate through repeated interviews and related documentary analysis how four case study learners experienced feedback processes over the duration of their undergraduate studies. The analysis is guided by a social constructivist perspective on feedback research. The findings highlight students’ development of more sophisticated orientations to feedback over time; how they experienced and used feedback over the shorter and longer term; their varied affective responses; and how their perspectives evolved. The novel aspects of the findings lie in detailing the individual nature of students’ responses to feedback and documenting the different ways these changed during their undergraduate studies. The role of grades and projected honours classification was a significant element of the performative nature of the students’ experience, and impacted on the extent to which they engaged with feedback. Students often felt that there were dissonances between feedback that teachers were providing and what would be useful or palatable to them. The implications propose that the concept of students as partners can support the reframing of feedback processes as a partnership between students and teachers. Partnership approaches resonate with the need for social constructivist approaches to feedback where knowledge and understanding are co-constructed. Feedback partnerships also carry potential to enable the mutual development of staff and student feedback literacy.     

The Effect of Selected Media Feedback upon the Interactive Behavior of Student Teachers

Abstract

The problem involved in this study was to ascertain whether student teachers receiving supervisory feedback with the aid of video and/or audio tape replay demonstrate a greater change in their classroom verbal interactive behavior than student teachers who receive supervisory feedback with no video or audio feedback. Evidence indicates that those receiving video feedback utilize less “direct teaching influence” and more “indirect teaching influence” as categorized by Flanders’ Verbal Interaction Analysis System, Within the audio group, the magnitude of change in the student teachers’ instructional behavior was not statistically significant. The magnitude of the directional change was greater for those students receiving video or audio recorded feedback than the magnitude of change in the control group.     

Assessment Practices: Empowering Mathematics and Science Teachers in Rural Secondary Schools to Enhance Student Learning

Aligned with recent changes to syllabuses in Australia is an assessment regime requiring teachers to identify what their students ‘know’ and ‘can do’ in terms of the quality of understanding demonstrated. This paper describes the experiences of 25 secondary science and mathematics teachers in rural schools in New South Wales as they explore the changing nature of assessment and its implications on their classroom practice. To help reconceptualise these changes, teachers were introduced to a cognitive structural model as a theoretical framework. Throughout the 2-year study, teachers attended a series of professional development sessions and received ongoing consultative support. Each session was taped and transcribed while interviews were conducted with each teacher at the end of both years. Analysis of these data using a grounded theory approach identified seven major components of teacher practice impacted by the study. The core component was questioning while the six contributing components were teachers’ pedagogical practices, attention to cognition, teaching strategies, assessment linked to pedagogy, classroom advantages for students, and classroom advantages for teachers. These findings represent a major shift in teachers’ perceptions of assessment from a focus on the accumulation of students’ marks to one of diagnosis as a means of directing teaching to enhance students’ scientific and mathematical understandings.