In the field with two rural primary school head teachers in England

ABSTRACT

The research focuses on the complexities associated with contemporary rural primary school leadership. The paper draws on in-depth ethnographic research undertaken in two contrasting English rural primary schools and their surrounding community over a period of three years and in particular the experiences and perspectives of the two head teachers from these schools. The paper is conceptually informed by the work of Bourdieu [1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul] and his work around field, habitus and capital as a means of understanding practice. The paper contends that as the neo-liberal economic field increasingly contaminates the field of schooling so a contextual understanding of the complex and shifting social space which a head teacher occupies, including their habitus and the capital they deploy, is of central importance to understanding practice.     

专科师范生语文专业知识素养调查

我国的基础教育正面临着一场深刻的改革,推进这场变革的关键在于素质教育的实施。小学教育师范专科学生是未来基础教育的中坚力量,因此,他们的语文专业素养对我国小学教育的发展担负着重要的使命,经调查：他们具备了从事小学语文教学的必备的专业知识,欠缺关于基础教育课程改革的新理念。这源于他们对自我角色定位有深刻关系,应引起这类学校教师和管理者高度重视。     

渭南市农村初中教师素质现状调查报告——“提高农村初中教师素质的对策研究”之一

农村初中教师队伍的职业思想基本稳定，学历水平近年来有较大提高，但与素质教育要求的知识结构和能力结构还存在着较大的差距，应引起教育部门的高度重视。     

漳州市中小学教师信息素养现状调查及分析

教育信息化的成功与否,教师的信息素养是一个关键的影响因素。信息素养是传统文化素养的延伸和拓展,主要由信息意识与信息伦理道德、信息知识以及信息能力组成。通过对漳州市中小学教师的信息意识、信息态度、信息能力进行问卷调查,探讨影响漳州市中小学教师信息素养的因素,并对影响因素提出一些针对性意见建议。     

广西中小学教师教育观念调查研究

教师的教育观念是教师素质的核心，它决定着教师教育工作的方向，直接影响教师的教育行为和教育效果，笔在对广西中小学教师的教育观念调查分析的基础上，提出几方面的建议；关注教育科学研究的实效笥；引导教师建设良好的师生关系，重视理论传授，加强操作指导；记中小学教师充分认识教育的生态功能，加强教育评价的指导。     

Validation of a school environment survey among Colombian teachers

The article explores the validity and reliability of an instrument for measuring for the School Environment (SE) among 3610 teachers in Medellín, Colombia during 2011. A multilevel exploratory factorial analysis established through 20 items that the instrument identifies four dimensions of SE on an individual level: communication between school and teachers, between teachers and parents, teacher involvement in school decisions, sense of security (respect-safeness) and academic expectations. At a group level, the same items measure a general dimension of SE. Based upon these analyses, the instrument produced a valid and reliable school environment measure that differentiates among schools.     

河北省中小学班主任现状调查与对策思考

近年来,中小学班主任队伍建设取得了很大成效,如班主任的工作积极性、整体学历水平比较高,年龄结构比较合理等.但同时也存在很多问题,如性别比例失调、工作强度和难度都比较大、整体培训状况不理想问题.因此,必须采取切实有效的措施加强班主任队伍建设.     

Dialogic practice in primary schools: how primary head teachers plan to embed philosophy for children into the whole school

The Philosophy for Children in Schools Project is an ongoing research project to explore the impact of philosophy for children (P4C) on classroom practice. This paper reports on the responses of head teachers, teachers and local educational authority (LA) officers in South Wales, UK, to the initial training programme in Philosophy for Children carried out by the University School of Education. Achieving change in schools through the embedding of new practices is an important challenge for head teachers. Interviews and qualitative questionnaires were used to explore perceptions of and attitudes towards the dialogic practice of P4C and the related challenges for school leaders. The results provide an insight into how head teachers planned to embed the new practice of P4C in their schools. Results from the interviews and questionnaires have been subject to iterative analysis and categories derived under which to discuss the findings. There are many similarities in the ways in which different head teachers go about planning change n their schools as well as differences. The results provide insight into the role of initial continuing professional development (CPD) in school development and the processes by which individual heads plan to embed change in practice across the whole school.     

升学压力下中学教师课外阅读调查研究

随着升学压力的不断加剧,应试竞争早已从小学阶段下移到了学前阶段,而中学阶段则是应试竞争的重灾区。为了更好地了解中学教师的读书现状,我们开展了教师读书情况的问卷调查,在此基础上,就如何提升教师读书风气提出相关建议。     

Academisation,school collaboration and the primary school sector in England: a story of six school leaders

This paper presents data from a study of five English primary schools. It examines some of the challenges associated with school autonomy and collaboration for state primary schools amid the uncertainty and complexity of governance in the present English education context. The paper features the voices of six leaders gathered from interviews that explored their thoughts about the academies movement. It highlights their fears that academisation, and particularly the imperative to join a large academy chain, will undermine their autonomy as individual schools. Accepting of the inevitability of academisation and the forms of network governance this reform offers, it highlights the head teachers’ moves to ensure their autonomy in terms of determining the timing and type of conversion. In relation to these moves, the paper reiterates the significance within effective collaboratives of member schools experiencing a sense of ownership, a common purpose, shared responsibility for students and their learning and relations of trust. The paper considers some of the tensions arising in this space in relation to competition, collaboration and school vulnerability.     

Stress and Job Satisfaction: a study of English primary school teachers

Using a self‐report questionnaire, a picture of the sources of stress and job satisfaction amongst a sample of 267 teachers, drawn from primary schools in the North and Eastern regions of England, is established. Teachers scored the frequency and intensity of 18 items on a stress scale. A principal components analysis was carried out and three factors were identified: professional concerns, pupil behaviour and attitude and professional tasks. The strongest correlations were found between professional concerns and occupational stress. Biographical factors were examined and significant differences were found between men and women, and teachers of different ages and length of teaching experience. Men reported more stress than women on professional tasks and pupil behaviour and attitude. Women scored higher than men on professional concerns. Just over one‐third of teachers were satisfied with their job. When specific facets of job satisfaction were examined, teachers were most satisfied with their professional performance and least satisfied with teaching resources. Stress and job satisfaction were found to be negatively correlated. High reports of occupational stress were related to low levels of job satisfaction. Attention is drawn to the likely significance of including a frequency as well as intensity measure when considering the experience of stress and to the complex nature of job satisfaction.     

Language and reading development in children learning English as an additional language in primary school in England

Children learning English as an additional language (EAL) are a growing population of learners in English primary schools. These children begin school with differing levels of English language proficiency and tend to underperform in relation to their non-EAL peers on measures of English oral language and reading. However, little work has examined the developmental trajectories of these skills in EAL learners in England. EAL learners and 33 non-EAL peers in Year 4 (age 8–9 years) were assessed at three time points over 18 months on measures of oral language (vocabulary, grammar and listening comprehension), phonological processing (spoonerisms and rapid automatised naming) and reading skills (single-word decoding and passage reading). At t1, EAL learners scored significantly lower than non-EAL peers in receptive and expressive vocabulary (breadth but not depth), spoonerisms and passage reading accuracy. Contrary to previous research, no significant group differences were found in listening or reading comprehension skills. With the exception of passage reading accuracy, there was no evidence for convergence or divergence between the groups in rate of progress over time. After three years of English-medium classroom instruction, EAL learners continue to underperform relative to their non-EAL peers in breadth of English vocabulary knowledge. This discrepancy in vocabulary knowledge does not appear to narrow as a result of regular classroom instruction in the run up to the final stages of primary school, pinpointing vocabulary as a key target for intervention.     

浅析小学英语教师的课堂评价

课堂评价是课堂教学的关键环节,要使课堂教学评价发挥作用,教师课堂评价方法的应用是最为重要的。教师运用正确的课堂评价方法不仅会调动学生学习积极性,而且有利于培养小学生学习英语的兴趣。因此,在小学阶段的英语教学过程中,教师应该运用正确的课堂评价方法,充分发挥教师在课堂评价中的重要作用。     

Inquiry-based science education: towards a pedagogical framework for primary school teachers

Inquiry-based science education (IBSE) has been promoted as an inspiring way of learning science by engaging pupils in designing and conducting their own scientific investigations. For primary school teachers, the open nature of IBSE poses challenges as they often lack experience in supporting their pupils during the different phases of an open IBSE project, such as formulating a research question and designing and conducting an investigation. The current study aims to meet these challenges by presenting a pedagogical framework in which four domains of scientific knowledge are addressed in seven phases of inquiry. The framework is based on video analyses of pedagogical interventions by primary school teachers participating in open IBSE projects. Our results show that teachers can guide their pupils successfully through the process of open inquiry by explicitly addressing the conceptual, epistemic, social and/or procedural domain of scientific knowledge in the subsequent phases of inquiry. The paper concludes by suggesting further research to validate our framework and to develop a pedagogy for primary school teachers to guide their pupils through the different phases of open inquiry.     

试论中小学教师的学习

在现代知识社会,学习对中小学教师具有特殊重要的意义。学习效果在一定程度上取决于个体对学习的理解和学习方式。理论性学习可以培育教师的学科理论素养,提高理性思考能力。研究性学习属于以高阶思维为主要认知活动的高投入性学习。合作性学习可以促进个体知识经验的聚合和视界的融合,从而实现知识共享。社会化学习是个体学习社会知识,并不断内化和再创造的过程。教师应端正学习态度,提高学习内驱力,将工作和学习融为一体,相得益彰。     

Urban primary school headship in England: an emotional perspective

This paper explores some of the reasons that primary head teachers in urban schools give for staying in a highly complex and demanding professional occupation. The paper is divided into two sections. The first section contains an overview of what is involved in primary headship in the English setting and what is distinctive in the urban setting and its impact on headship. The second section of the paper draws on a small exploratory study to consider some of the key factors that influence urban primary school head teachers to stay in their posts. The paper details the emotional complexities and costs involved in this work, focusing on resilience, commitment, and the rewards of doing what is seen as a worthwhile job, which all contribute towards retention in a challenging profession.     

中小学教师的权利享有与义务履行：问题与建议

当前,我国中小学教师的权利义务现状令人担忧,在权利享有和义务履行方面都出现了一些问题。造成这些问题的原因是多方面的,其中,现行相关法律的不完善是最根本的原因。针对这些问题,应完善相关法律并对中小学教师的法律身份进行重新界定,从而使教师更好地享有权利,履行义务。