Managing peer relations: A dimension of teacher self-efficacy that varies between elementary and middle school teachers and is associated with observed classroom quality

This study examined the nature of teachers' self-efficacy, differences between elementary and middle school teachers' self-efficacy and the implications for observed classroom quality. Teachers (N = 101; 61% female and 85% European American) completed a survey and 96 were observed teaching two different classes. The sample included 6th grade (n = 44) and 7th grade (n = 30) teachers from six middle schools and 5th grade teachers (n = 27) from twelve feeder elementary schools. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that teachers' self-efficacy for managing peer relations is a distinct dimension from teachers' self-efficacy for classroom management, instruction and student engagement. Teachers felt less efficacious about managing peer relations compared to classroom management and instruction. Further, middle school teachers reported lower self-efficacy for classroom management and managing peer relations compared to elementary school teachers. For elementary and middle school teachers, their self-efficacy for classroom management and for managing peer relations was associated with some aspects of observed classroom quality.     

Talking and Teaching Through a Positional Lens: Recognizing what and who we privilege in our practice

This article describes a year‐long professional development project that brought together a group of high school English teachers around multicultural literature they would be teaching to their students. The teachers all taught together in a culturally and economically diverse high school context in the USA. One objective of the project was to enable the teacher participants to explore their discourse patterns around the literature to discern their own subject positions with regard to one another and to the texts studied. In addition, the teachers together analyzed their own classroom discourse to determine how those subject positions carried over into their teaching, how they essentially taught who they were. Discussions of multicultural literature and teachers’ talk around that literature, accompanied by close interrogation of classroom practice, enabled the teachers to discern what (and who) they privileged in their teaching practice. These realizations led one of the two teachers highlighted to readily change her pedagogy and curriculum to better support the learning and empowerment of all students.     

K-12 Science and Mathematics Teachers’ Beliefs About and Use of Inquiry in the Classroom

A survey instrument was developed and administered to 1,222 K-12 mathematics and science teachers to measure their beliefs about and use of inquiry in the classroom. Four variables (grade level taught, content area taught, level of support received, and self-efficacy for teaching inquiry) were significantly correlated to two dependent variables, percentage of time that students are engaged in inquiry during a typical lesson and the perceived ideal percentage of instructional time that should be devoted to inquiry. Specifically, elementary school teachers reported using inquiry-based practices more than either middle-school or high-school teachers; similarly, elementary-school teachers believed such practices should be used more often. All groups, however, reported believing in an ideal percentage of time devoted to inquiry instruction that was significantly greater than their reported percentage of time actually spent on inquiry instruction. A disordinal effect was found between grade level taught and content area taught; at the elementary level, science teachers reported both an ideal and actual percentage of time on inquiry higher than those reported by the math teachers, while at the high school level math teachers reported both an ideal and actual percentage of time on inquiry higher than those reported by the science teachers. No correlations were found between typical and ideal percentage of time devoted to inquiry and subject matter content knowledge training, gender, years of teaching experience, or maximum degree earned.     

To What Extent Do Reform-prepared Upper Elementary and Middle School Science Teachers Maintain Their Beliefs and Intended Instructional Actions as they are Inducted into Schools?

We report the results of survey research that collected responses of an identical sample (31 beginning mathematics and science teachers, elementary and middle school level) that graduated from a reform-based mathematics and science teacher preparation program, the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP). We compared responses of the same beginning teachers over the two administrations of the survey. The 1st administration was conducted soon after the beginning teachers graduated from the MCTP program, but had not started full teaching. The 2nd administration was conducted after the new teachers had taught full time for a minimum of a full year, with the majority having taught for 2 years. Results indicated that in all areas the MCTP teachers maintained their reform-based beliefs.     

基于合作学习的高中英语教学策略刍探

在核心素养背景下,高中英语课堂教学从传统的“知识型课堂”转变为“能力型课堂”。因此,教师可基于“自主、合作、探究”的原则,充分借助小组合作学习模式,不断提升高中英语课堂教学效率。文章分析高中英语核心素养内涵、合作学习内涵及合作学习应用于高中英语教学的意义,并探究具体应用策略。     

Addressing computational estimation in the Kuwaiti curriculum: teachers’ views

Computational estimation has not yet established a place in the Kuwaiti national curriculum. An attempt was made to include it during the early 1990s, but it was dropped by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education because of the difficulties teachers had teaching it. In an effort to provide guidance for reintroducing the concept into the curriculum, this study reports on mathematics teachers’ understanding of the meaning of computational estimation and their views about its significance in the elementary and middle school curricula in Kuwait. Data gathered from 59 elementary and middle schools teachers in Kuwait revealed that more than 60% of teachers equate computational estimation with rounding. While two-thirds of the teachers viewed computational estimation to be an important skill for daily life; only one-fifth (20%) saw it as important in mathematics education. More than half of the teachers either disagreed with the idea of teaching computational estimation or only wanted to teach it in limited situations. Most were concerned about the difficulty of learning computational estimation or feared that teaching computational estimation would cause problems with students’ development of standard algorithms for determining an exact answer. These findings reveal the challenge that mathematics educators face in introducing computational estimation into the mathematics curriculum. In order for computational estimation to be taught in elementary and middle school classrooms, teachers need to understand the concept and its value in education. Teacher education needs to focus on helping teachers better understand the concept of computational estimation and appreciate its value for instruction.     

回归语言教学本身，提高英语课堂实效——对小学英语课堂教学的“冷思考”

新课程改革以来,新的教育、教学理念引领着小学英语教师迅速成长,小学英语课堂教学也随之发生了根本性的变化,但由于培训、师资的后续跟进问题以及其他相关因素的影响,在小学英语课堂中也出现了一些问题。文章结合英语教学、教研经验对小学英语课堂教学问题进行深入地剖析,对新背景下的小学英语课堂教学作了一些“冷思考”,就小学英语课堂以及语言教学的本质问题进行了一些积极的探究。     

Behavior problems in the classroom: A national survey of inter ventions used by classroom teachers

Research has investigated different variables involved in the implementation of behavioral interventions in the classroom. Results suggest that different factors such as acceptability of the intervention, psychologist-related variables, teachers' preferences, variables involving the intervention itself, and children's intervention preferences affect the implementation of behavioral interventions. However, no research has investigated the types of interventions teachers actually use in the classroom for behavior problems. This study surveyed a national stratified random sample of 228 regular and special education teachers. A questionnaire that had been previously developed by the researchers was utilized to ask what methods were used by the teachers to remediate behavior problems in their classrooms. Data were analyzed to determine types of interventions used and relationships to gender, degree, type of school (elementary, middle, or high school), grade taught, type of class (regular or special education), and region. Implications for school psychologists are discussed.     

The impact of teaching in a one-to-one computing classroom on teachers’ work outside the classroom

ABSTRACT

One-to-one computing programmes – that is, when each student has a personal, portable computer to use while learning – have been studied extensively, mostly regarding their actual classroom implementation. In this quantitative study, the authors take a broader perspective, exploring the impact of teaching in one-to-one computing programmes on teachers’ beliefs regarding their job outside the classroom. Participants were middle school and high school teachers who had taught in both one-to-one and traditional classrooms – and hence could reflect upon the differences between the two settings. The methodology included questionnaires based on Danielson’s comprehensive Framework of Teaching. The results suggest more positive attitudes towards teaching in one-to-one programmes than in traditional classrooms in all domains tested; however, the one-to-one instruction applied portrays a rather shallow, instrumental use of the digital devices in a way that supports existing teaching practices and beliefs, rather than a transformative effect of such programmes on teaching.     

教师变量对小学生数学学习成绩影响的多水平分析

32名小学数学教师与这些教师所教班级的1691名学生参与了本研究。两个测量工具评价了教师的数学学科知识与学科教学知识,对教师的55节数学课进行了录像,并按照学习任务的认知水平与课堂对话的特点进行了编码,同时测查了学生的期末数学学习成绩。多水平分析结果表明:教师的学科教学知识、课堂学习任务的认知水平、课堂对话中教师提问问题的类型与对话的权威来源对学生的数学成绩具有显著的预测作用;而教师的学科知识对学生数学成绩的影响未达到显著性水平。     

Chinese elementary school teachers’ perceptions of students’ classroom behaviour problems

This study examined teachers’ perceptions of classroom behaviour problems in five provinces of the People’s Republic of China. Researchers surveyed 527 Chinese teachers from 27 elementary schools. Consistent with previous studies in China, teachers perceived non‐attention to be the most frequent and troublesome behaviour problem. Teachers’ perceptions of which behaviour problems were most difficult to tolerate and most negative in their effects on student development were also investigated. Approximately 45% of the teachers reported spending too much time on behaviour problems. Significant differences were found in the prevalence of teachers’ perceptions of student misbehaviour and of the time spent on classroom management; there were also differences in these perceptions according to students’ gender, type of school, classroom subject taught, and teachers’ level of experience. The implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are addressed.     

加强高中政治教学培养学生核心素养

政治是高中的重点学科,教师在开展政治教学时,应以核心素养作为政治学科教学的指导思想,创新课堂组织形式,充分发挥政治学科的育人价值.文章简要分析高中政治教学中培养学生核心素养的重要性、现存问题,并从深挖教材内容、创建合作小组、引入生活元素、开展社会实践、创新评价机制等方面,对高中政治教学中培养学生核心素养的策略进行探讨,...     

加强高中英语教学培养学生核心素养的研究

新课程改革对高中英语教学提出了更高要求。高中英语教师必须紧紧围绕“语言能力、文化意识、思维品质和学习能力”四大英语核心素养培养目标,对课堂教学内容进行重新整合,不断优化课堂教学手段,促使学生在英语学习中不断提升核心素养。文章在分析英语核心素养内涵基础上,探讨培养高中生英语核心素养的有效措施。     

A teacher competence development programme for supporting students’ reflection skills

The Teachers of Promise study has followed the work histories of 57 primary and secondary teachers who had been identified at the beginning of their third year of teaching as having the potential to make a significant contribution to the profession. Using data from surveys and interviews, this paper reports on what sustained or inhibited their initial commitment to and enthusiasm for ‘making a difference’, six years later, both in the classroom and in broader school leadership roles. Satisfaction with their day-to-day experiences in their schools was a particularly strong driver of teachers’ career decisions over time. Thirty-four teachers responded to survey items that were used to identify three different groups of teachers: a group of 10 primary school teachers with the highest levels of job satisfaction who were ‘fulfilling their promise’; a group of 21 primary and secondary teachers who were ‘persevering and coping’; and three teachers who were ‘detached and disengaged’. The group with the highest levels of job satisfaction taught in primary schools where they felt respected and valued, and supported to develop their teaching and leadership expertise. School leadership practices and school cultures in the other two groups diminished teachers’ overall job satisfaction and contribution to collective knowledge building in their schools. Almost all of the teachers had retained their commitment to students, to their current schools and to teaching as a career, including those with lower levels of satisfaction. Although these teachers reported ‘collegial’ relationships with their peers, individualistic school cultures, most often in secondary schools, impacted on their opportunities to learn with and from their colleagues. Few secondary school teachers felt appreciated, and included in school decision-making or had found it possible to combine high standards of classroom teaching with management responsibilities. The study indicates that while most promising teachers were still satisfied with teaching after nine years, relatively few were in schools where they were able to make the impact that had been predicted for them early in their careers.     

Supporting pre-service elementary teachers in their understanding of inquiry teaching through the construction of a third discursive space

Several international reports promote the use of the inquiry teaching methodology for improvements in science education at elementary school. Nevertheless, research indicates that pre-service elementary teachers have insufficient experience with this methodology and when they try to implement it, the theory they learnt in their university education clashes with the classroom practice they observe, a problem that has also been noted with other innovative methodologies. So, it appears essential for pre-service teachers to conduct supportive reflective practice during their education to integrate theory and practice, which various studies suggest is not usually done. Our study shows how opening up a third discursive space can assist this supportive reflective practice. The third discursive space appears when pre-service teachers are involved in specific activities that allow them to contrast the discourses of theoretical knowledge taught at university with practical knowledge arising from their ideas on science and science teaching and their observations during classroom practice. The case study of three pre-service teachers shows that this strategy was fundamental in helping them to integrate theory and practice, resulting in a better understanding of the inquiry methodology and its application in the classroom.     

PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS’ CHALLENGES IN TEACHING REASONING-AND-PROVING

The activity of reasoning-and-proving is at the heart of mathematical sense making and is important for all students’ learning as early as the elementary grades. Yet, reasoning-and-proving tends to have a marginal place in elementary school classrooms. This situation can be partly attributed to the fact that many (prospective) elementary teachers have (1) weak mathematical (subject matter) knowledge about reasoning-and-proving and (2) counterproductive beliefs about its teaching. Following up on an intervention study that helped a group of prospective elementary teachers make significant progress in overcoming these two major obstacles to teaching reasoning-and-proving, we examined the challenges that three of them identified that they faced as they planned and taught lessons related to reasoning-and-proving in their mentor teachers’ classrooms. Our findings contribute to research knowledge about major factors (other than the well-known factors related to teachers’ mathematical knowledge and beliefs) that deserve attention by teacher education programs in preparing prospective teachers to teach reasoning-and-proving.     

泥沙淘尽始见金——小学语文深度学习的有效策略探讨

语文是小学众多学科中最重要的一门学科,因为它是学习其他所有学科的重要基础。在小学语文教学中,教师要与时俱进对自己的教学方式进行创新和改革,以加深学生对语文知识的掌握和理解,并且还能培养学生的核心素养,最终达到深度学习小学语文的目的。本文立足相关理论和实践对统编版教科书的课堂深度学习中出现的问题以及有效策略进行了分析。     

小学数学教学中高效课堂的构建

在小学数学教学过程中,教师应该将新课改的政策充分落实到教学中,这样不仅能提高教学质量,也能有效改善课堂学习氛围。而在新课改的背景下,如何构建更加高效的课堂,已经成为小学数学教师不断思考的问题。本文将阐述小学数学教学中高效课堂的构建,希望能为小学数学教师提供有效的参考。