Prospective primary teachers’ perceptions about the use of mathematics homework

The benefit of homework (HW) has been the subject of ongoing debate among various stakeholders. Within this debate, and in relation to teacher development, prospective teachers’ views of HW have received limited attention. In this study, we survey primary pre-service teachers’ (‘PSTs’) views of HW use (n = 45 teaching grades 2–5; n = 39 teaching grades 6 and 7) in a single discipline (mathematics) at one large Australian university.

The literature suggests students in upper primary and secondary grades will benefit from the use of mathematics HW. Results of the study, in contrast, suggest our PSTs teaching early primary grades planned to give proportionally (but not significantly) more mathematics HW than those teaching later grades. Reasons for this disparity are discussed. We argue there is a need in teacher development to equip PSTs with a better understanding of how classroom and home-based learning work together in the development of mathematical understanding.     

Challenging science teachers' beliefs and practices through a video-case-based intervention in China's primary schools

The present study aims to challenge primary school science teachers' beliefs about education and teaching efficacy, as well as their teaching practices, through a video-case-based intervention programme in a Chinese educational setting. A total of 46 in-service teachers were involved in this study (experimental group = 23, control group = 23). Pre- and post-intervention surveys were administered to examine possible changes in the participants' beliefs about education and science teaching efficacy. Video data were gathered through classroom observations of 9 participants from the experimental group and 9 participants from the control group. The results of one-way analysis of covariance indicate that the reported post-intervention beliefs of teachers who participated in the programme differed significantly from their pre-intervention beliefs. More specifically, teachers in the experimental groups reported fewer traditional and more constructivist beliefs after the intervention, as well as stronger personal science teaching efficacy beliefs. One exception included beliefs about science teaching outcome expectancy. The video data showed that teaching practices became more constructivist in terms of both practical activities and student ICT use.     

Context matters: primary schools and academies reform in England

There is little conclusive evidence linking academies reform in England with school improvement. While this reform has been effective in improving educational outcomes in some contexts, it has been resoundingly unsuccessful in others. Nevertheless, political faith in autonomous schooling as key to a world-class education remains strong. This paper considers how matters of context impact on approaches to and enactments of this policy. Drawing on case study data from two groups of primary schools from (1) a local authority and (2) an academy chain, the paper examines the particular situated, professional, material and external factors that impact on these schools’ capacities to cope with and respond to academies reform. In light of the continued tendency within policy for schools to be dematerialised, the paper argues the ongoing significance of greater attention to matters of context in understanding how schools are navigating the complex terrain of this reform.     

从教师教育专业化看教师教育学院院长素质

教师职业具有专业化的一切特征,教师专业化呼唤教师教育专业化.教师专业化已经成为一种强劲的思潮,极大地推动了许多发达国家教师教育新理念和新制度的建立.国际教师教育专业化潮流在催生我国教师教育学院的同时,也迫使其依据教师教育专业化要求实施改革与转型.在教师教育改革方面,担任主要角色的教师教育学院院长已经面临来自内外部的压力,为了应对这些变化,院长必须在教师教育的规划、实施和教育服务方面承担起主要的领导责任,以迎接教师教育专业化的挑战.     

The challenges of beginning teachers in urban primary schools

This study provides insight in the variety of urban-related challenges that beginning teachers experience in urban schools. Literature on urban teaching focuses on teaching children from low socio-economic status (SES) and/or culturally diverse backgrounds. In many European cities, however, schools are populated by both children from relatively high and from low-SES backgrounds. This study examined the problems and challenges of beginning teachers in Dutch urban primary schools. Teachers were interviewed at schools with different student populations. Results showed that, although many of the challenges that beginning teachers experienced concern the same themes, their actual manifestation differed related to schools’ student populations. For instance, the problem of ‘parental contact’ referred to both the extreme involvement and demands of highly educated wealthy parents at some schools and the diverse backgrounds of parents at other schools. Results of the study can be used to develop adequate preparation and support for beginning urban teachers.     

Educating teachers about human rights: building a rights based culture in Australian schools

A well-educated active citizenry is the primary aim of our education systems. An essential component of a well-educated citizenry in a civil society is its understanding of the value of human rights and what it means to live with dignity in a community, where rights and freedoms are protected. This paper uses evidence from international and national reports and programmes to argue that HRE should be an essential component of the curriculum in Australian schools. It draws on data from the first national cross-sectoral Australian study investigating the place of HRE in the school curriculum. There is a need for both pre-service and in-service teachers to have focused professional training, in order to better engage students to be critically aware of the importance of developing a human rights culture within a school; also, to adopt a transformative “whole school” approach linked to local, national, and global communities.     

Developing pedagogical practices in Myanmar primary schools: possibilities and constraints

This paper presents the findings of a baseline study of pedagogic practices used by Myanmar primary teachers in the teaching of mathematics and Myanmar language at Grades 3 and 5. The main purpose of the baseline study was to inform the design of teacher education programmes and allow for subsequent evaluations of interventions designed to improve the quality of primary education. It found that the majority of observed lessons (n = 728) used a transmission model of teaching in which the teacher often used a chalkboard and/or textbook to transmit recipe knowledge for recall and there was little variation across the teaching of mathematics and Myanmar language at Grades 3 and 5. Drawing on evidence from the baseline, the paper explores the training needs of primary teachers in Myanmar in the light of proposed reforms to teacher education at the pre- and in-service stages.     

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.     

提高农村中小学教师继续教育效果的深度思考

我国农村中小学教师继续教育中面临的主要问题在于,培训机构教师的素质不高,观念陈旧,培训的内容过于理论化,严重脱离农村中小学教育教学的实际;培训的方式过于强调课堂灌输,不利于调动农村中小学教师参与继续教育的积极主动性。要提高农村中小学教师继续教育的效果,教育主管部门和教师继续教育机构就要尽快转变教育观念,用科学发展观指导农村中小学教师继续教育工作,根据新课改的要求和农村学校的实际大力更新继续教育的内容,改进继续教育模式,促使继续教育质量不断提高。     

Complexity and contradiction: Disciplinary expert teachers in primary science and mathematics education

This article presents a systematic literature review about disciplinary expert teachers in primary science and mathematics education. This is a timely synthesis of the literature, as current reforms in teacher education in Australia and internationally require primary teachers to have specialised knowledge in a learning area. Systematic review protocols were used to identify and evaluate the relevance of numerous articles of which thirty-seven were included in the final analysis. Findings show insufficient evidence about whether expert teachers have a positive impact on instructional quality and student learning. Implications are discussed with reference to the current policy moment in Australia and teacher education more broadly.     

Investigating teachers' educational beliefs in Chinese primary schools: socioeconomic and geographical perspectives

This empirical study explores the nature of and profiles in primary teachers' educational beliefs in the Chinese educational settings. A survey of 820 primary school teachers was conducted using a questionnaire focusing on teachers' traditional and constructivist beliefs about teaching and learning. Analysis of variance and cluster analysis were applied. Results show that gender and subject domain affect traditional educational beliefs. Significant differences appear considering economic and geographical context variables. Cluster analysis helps to delineate four teacher belief profiles: a constructivist profile, a mixed constructivist/traditional profile, a traditional profile, and a mixed low constructivist/traditional profile. Inter-relation between teacher belief profiles and school categories are discussed.     

Perceptions of learning-support teachers and resource teachers of each other's role in Irish primary schools

This article reports findings from an exploratory study of how learning support and resource teachers perceive each other's role. The study was conducted during the debate on the proposed changes to allocation and deployment of support teachers, following the publication of Circular 24/03 by the Department of Education and Science. It sought to test the hypothesis that learning-support and resource teachers perceive each other's roles differently in terms of their distinctiveness, type of children they support, working arrangements and training. The findings confirmed this and the implications of this for more whole-school collaborative models of support are discussed.     

Mentor teachers: Their perceived possibilities and challenges as mentor and teacher

This interview study, including seven case studies of mentor teachers in primary education, explores the possibilities and challenges these mentor teachers perceive when they (sequentially and simultaneously) combine the teacher and mentor roles. Mentor teachers perceive two challenges while simultaneously performing both roles in the same classroom: to transfer (or not) responsibility for the class and pupils to the student teacher and to intervene (or not) in classroom procedures. Mentor teachers felt that being the teacher of the pupils was their primary task, and being a mentor of the student teacher generally was perceived as an aside and additional task.     

Outdoor education in rural primary schools in New Zealand: a narrative inquiry

ABSTRACT

This research examines teaching outdoor education in two rural primary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim was to give ‘voice’ to how outdoor education is taught, programmed and understood. Underpinning the research was the question: what factors enable/constrain teachers’ ability to implement outdoor education? The findings suggest: confusion about outdoor education terminology and the educative purpose of school ‘camps’; schools ‘do what they have always done’, particularly when decisions about outdoor education contexts are dominated by senior management; financial restrictions; and teachers feeling ill-prepared in terms of safety management because of their limited pre-service and post-service teacher education. This research highlights that what to teach, how to teach and where to teach outdoor education needs more consideration and attention for teachers to be better informed about safe outdoor practices and quality pedagogy in, for and about the outdoors.     

Pre-service education for primary school English teachers in Indonesia: policy implications

Although English is only an extra-curricular subject at primary level in Indonesia, expectations over the improved quality of the teachers are exceptionally high . This is the case in the past few years in which the low proficiency of primary English teachers and their lack of teaching competencies have repeatedly been pointed out as major constraints. Unfortunately, it remains unclear whether this problem is attributed to the delivery of pre-service education in preparing primary school English teachers. This paper gathered data from teachers, language teacher educators, primary school principals, members of educational boards, and educational consultants. The data were analysed using Grounded Theory in order to examine the adequacy of pre-service education in Indonesia to prepare primary school English teachers as well as factors that contribute to its efficacy or lack thereof. The findings of the study demonstrate the need for specific preparation for primary school English teachers as well as further training for teacher educators. This present study is highly relevant to Indonesia and other Asian countries where teacher efficacy is a major concern.     

A comparison of the governing of primary and secondary schools in England

In England, governing bodies continue to be responsible for the conduct of publicly funded schools. This article compares the governing of publicly funded primary schools (for 5–11 year olds) and secondary schools (for 11–18 year olds). The research analysed policy documents and the governing of 16 primary and 14 secondary schools. The main governance mode for both primary schools and secondary schools is hierarchical and similar in nature, and the governing bodies of primary and secondary schools use broadly similar governing instruments. However, they differ in significant ways. In primary schools, governing is smaller in scale and less complex. Primary school governing is closer to the school and children, and the images held by governors of the system to be governed are better developed in primary schools. Functional knowledge was more useful in primary school governing, and the use of informal meetings as instruments of governance was more widespread in primary school governing. The findings and their implications need to be taken into account in the analysis of and policy making for school governing.     

Motivation and demotivation of teachers in primary schools: the challenge of change

Motivation is crucial to both individual and organisational performance and even a very able and well-trained member of staff will not perform effectively unless they are motivated to do so. Despite this fact, research into the motivation of teachers is limited both internationally and, more specifically, in relation to the English system of education which has undergone a series of rapid, multiple and systemic changes since the 1988 Education Act which are likely to have affected teachers' motivation and morale. This article reports on research in six primary schools in England which attempted to determine the nature of the issues impacting upon motivation and demotivation at the start of the twenty-first century. The study provides additional insight about how these factors might be affected by ethnographic and demographic characteristics. Findings suggest that the principal motivators for teachers in primary schools are extrinsic motivators, such as positive responses from children and that, conversely, demotivators are poor responses from children and workload factors.     

我国村级小学面临的困境与对策分析

分析了现阶段我国村级小学面临的困境:在校学生逐年减少,办学规模日趋萎缩;教师素质不高;办学条件差等。提出了:调整农村小学布局;加强村级小学师资队伍建设;以政府投入为主,改善村级小学办学条件。以此提高办学效益和教学质量,使村级小学走出目前的困境。     

加快高职师资队伍建设的认识与实践

高职院校师资队伍建设的重点是“双师型”师资队伍建设、教师的学历提升和教学改革与科研水平的提高。据此，宁波职业技术学院从自身的师资状况出发，提出了提升师资队伍水平的措施并取得了丰硕的成果。     

A comparison of student teacher learning from practice in university-affiliated schools in Helsinki and Johannesburg

In a comparative study of student teachers in Finland and South Africa, the researchers aimed to capture students’ views of how and what they had learned from practice in two university-affiliated primary schools. With data from survey questionnaires, we found that students in the two customized programmes accentuated different domains of teacher knowledge. The newly established teaching practice school in Johannesburg afforded closer integration of university and school practicum experiences for students than the well-established school in Helsinki. The authors conclude that an innovative teacher education model can be re-invented in a significantly different context and also add new dimensions to the original.