Citizenship in the Primary School: Going Beyond Circle Time

Education for citizenship is now recommended for all primary schools. Whilst primary teachers have long covered social and moral education, they have been less likely to cover teaching about community and political literacy (including the discussion of topical, controversial issues). This paper reports research findings on current practice and identifies key areas for discussion. It argues that there is great scope for enriching and enlivening the primary curriculum through the introduction of education for citizenship, by extending current practice in social and moral education and incorporating the newer themes of community and political literacy into existing teaching.     

Pupils in Control: Sex Talk as an Educational Resource

Education for citizenship is now recommended for all primary schools. Whilst primary teachers have long covered social and moral education, they have been less likely to cover teaching about community and political literacy (including the discussion of topical, controversial issues). This paper reports research findings on current practice and identifies key areas for discussion. It argues that there is great scope for enriching and enlivening the primary curriculum through the introduction of education for citizenship, by extending current practice in social and moral education and incorporating the newer themes of community and political literacy into existing teaching.     

教师专业发展与教师的道德影响力

教师专业发展与教师的道德影响力密切相关。从学科教学活动看,教师需要形成专业知识、教学能力与人格之间内在的平衡性、融合性和作用方向上的一致性,才能对学生的道德产生和谐的、丰满的、持久的影响。从师生关系看,教师在人格方面的民主性特征与道德影响力有重要的相关。要实现教师的道德影响力,学校管理必须转向以教育生态和谐为目标和基点的道德模式:加强对教育价值观的引导;将学校看作是成人(教师)与学生复杂交织在一起、共同成长的团体;鼓励和提供条件促使教师通过扩大个人阅读、参与教改与反思性研究、拓展人际交往以及自我修养;对教师工作的评价需要从外显性的评价走向更加重视和逐步实现内质性的评价。     

Computers in Mathematics Education: A revolution in the making?

How do student teachers see computers being used in secondary mathematics lessons, and how do they themselves use them on teaching practice? These questions were prompted by the need to provide appropriate experiences for students on the Postgraduate Certificate of Education course. Information collected over a two year period suggests that although computer use was not widespread, more students used computers, and applications software in particular, than practising teachers. Strategies for course provision are outlined and the examination of assumptions and beliefs is indicated as an important dimension in future work.     

Talking to teachers and looking at practice in understanding the moral dimensions of teaching

There are many notions about the nature of morality, and many publications on the moral dimensions of teaching. However, despite much discussion, researchers still know little about how teachers view morality or themselves as moral agents, let alone the extent to which these views are linked to their teaching practice. This study of two primary school teachers' beliefs and practices as they relate to morality is based on open-ended interviews and classroom observations. The goal is to gain an understanding of how teachers view morality and their own moral agency, as well as how researchers might discuss these issues with them so that they can critically assess their own views and practices. The data suggest that teachers' beliefs are complex and diverse, and may provide insights into investigating and discussing the moral dimensions of teaching.     

当代师德研究的省思:与国外教学道德维度研究的比较

我国当代师德研究与国外教学道德维度研究,既具有颇为一致的理论关注与研究焦点,却又展现出不尽相同的理论旨趣与研究进路。两者皆强调通过教师个人内化的美德来实现社会赋予教育的各种道德价值。然而,与我国研究传统不同的是,国外教学道德维度的研究更侧重于采取实证研究的方式,而且在研究旨趣上着重于促进教师理解教学行为的道德后果,而非固着于教师个人德性的提升。充分拓展对两者的比较研究,无疑将为我国当代师德研究发展提供重要的理论借鉴。     

Who is the ideal teacher? Am I? Similarity and difference in perception of students of education regarding the qualities of a good teacher and of their own qualities as teachers

This research examines two images of teachers as seen by students of education: the ideal teacher and their own self‐image as teachers. The research compares the students’ perceptions of these two images using two sub‐groups of students of education: students at an academic teachers’ college who will be referred to as student teachers and beginning teachers, who, while teaching, are completing their academic degrees at teachers’ colleges or regional academic colleges. Data were collected from 89 students at the two colleges by means of a questionnaire that included open‐ended questions which were analyzed qualitatively. The findings of the research indicate that there are two major categories that comprise perceptions of the ideal teacher: first, personal qualities; and second, knowledge of the subject taught as well as didactic knowledge. Both groups of students similarly attributed great importance to the personal qualities of the ideal teacher, but there is a difference in their perception of the importance of knowledge: the beginning teachers attributed great importance to knowledge and perceived it as a quality similar in importance to personal characteristics, while the student teachers, who had not begun their teaching careers, attributed less importance to knowledge as a characteristic of the ideal teacher. A quality which was less prominent when profiling the ideal teacher is general education and wide perspectives. The teacher as a socializing agent, a person who promotes social goals, was not mentioned at all. Students maintained that, during their studies, they had improved their qualities as ‘empathetic and attentive’ teachers, ‘knowledgeable in teaching methods’, and in ‘leadership’. But they had hardly improved their knowledge of the subject they taught or their level of general knowledge. The discussion of knowledge and the desirable personal qualities of a teacher is relevant to the current debate regarding the relative merits of disciplinary education in contrast to pedagogical education in preparation for teaching as a profession. The clear preference for disciplinary education by policy makers in Israel and elsewhere in the field of teacher education is contradictory to the emphasis placed on the personal development of future teachers and their pedagogical education by the students of education who participated in this research.     

Initial Characterization of Colombian High School Physics Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge on Electric Fields

We explore the initial characterization of the pedagogical content knowledge of four, in-service, Colombian pre-university secondary education physics teachers on the concept of electric field. Two of them teach the content in English as a second language. The aim of the study was to obtain an image of the participants’ teaching of electric field and the inherent complexities that go with that. The results revealed that factors which involved their personal educational models, such as, how they interpret their school’s curriculum, the relationship they see between physics and mathematics, the most effective strategies for teaching physics, and the time they have available to develop the topic played a significant role. The teachers considered it essential to establish new strategies that would motivate the pupils by helping them visualize the electric field.     

教师教学机智背后的个体教学哲学

教学机智背后存在教师个体的教学哲学。教师个体教学哲学的价值体系当中存在着"聚焦-非聚焦"的向度"内部-外部"的向度,其中又包括了四种不同作用的价值观类型。个体教学哲学遵循着实践的逻辑与教学机智发生关联,体现在教师知识的实践获取,教学情境的实践融合,师生关系的实践生长三个方面。个体教学哲学与教学机智之间的相互生成是在教师的元认知过程,也是在矛盾中发展的过程,还需要厘清两者之间必要的区分。     

Teachers’ and children’s personal epistemologies for moral education: Case studies in early years elementary education

While there is strong interest in teaching values in Australia and internationally there is little focus on young children’s moral values learning in the classroom. Research shows that personal epistemology influences teaching and learning in a range of education contexts, including moral education. This study examines relationships between personal epistemologies (children’s and teachers’), pedagogies, and school contexts for moral learning in two early years classrooms. Interviews with teachers and children and analysis of school policy revealed patterns of relationships between personal epistemologies and pedagogies within each school. A whole-school approach to understanding personal epistemologies and practice for moral values learning is suggested.     

教学乃“为己之学”——教学行为的道德评判

教师未必有德性,教学未必是德行,因而教学行为是需要道德评判的。教学行为的道德评判,就是对某种或某类教学行为在道德意义上做出肯定或否定的价值判断,从而把教学行为区分为善的或恶的、有利的或有害的、正义的或非正义的、合理的或不合理的等类型,通过对教学行为的赞许或谴责来干预教学生活,从而使教学走上人性化的道路,真正全面地丰富、涵养和提升人性。教学行为的道德评判应当在教学行为的全过程中进行全面和综合的分析,即看教师是否在既定的客观环境中做了他所应做的、他所能做的和他已做到的。通过教学并在教学过程中不断形塑和完美自身,通过形塑和完美自身不断形塑和完美学生,这两者不是敌对的、互相冲突的,而是一体化的过程。教学良心为教师的教学行为“立法”,规约和制导着教师的现实教学生活或实际教学行为的选择,所以教学行为的道德评判在某种程度上又是教师教学良心的自我评判。     

Teachers’ objects of responsibility: something to care about in education for sustainable development?

Answers to questions about good teaching in environmental education can be expressed in different selective traditions. Questions as to what should be included in good teaching tend to be addressed by both teachers and researchers on an ideological basis. This qualitative study uses a pragmatist approach, and aims to make an empirical contribution to the debate. Rather than telling teachers what they should teach, this interview study involved listening to ten upper secondary school teachers in Sweden, and their arguments concerning their long‐term teaching purposes. Why should students learn particular things? The teachers’ answers revealed habits and frequently used the same arguments. These arguments recurrently dealt with what teachers particularly cared about, and five objects of responsibility were identified in the interviews. These objects of responsibility constitute the starting points of teachers’ actions and can be seen as personal anchor points within a selective tradition. These points of departure remind the teachers of their teaching aims and objectives, and at the same time, keep them within a tradition. While they help the teachers in their everyday practice, they could just as easily be seen as tacit obstacles to efforts to change environmental education into Education for Sustainable Development. The results are also relevant for science education in general. Issues identified in the study include how the same scientific knowledge could be used for different purposes in education, and the different personal anchor points for long‐term purposes of teaching based on teachers’ own ideas of good teaching. These results can be important in developing a reflection tool for teachers, which in turn can help them to reflect more deeply about how they might change their teaching practices.     

中小学教师师德观的内隐研究

师德对教师的教育教学行为有着重要的作用,而教师师德的好坏又直接取决于教师的师德观.通过对86名中小学特级教师的师德观及其影响因素的实证研究发现,教师的师德观存在很大的不平衡性和个体差异,在"严谨治学"、"有责任心"、"积极性"、"拥有新知识、积极创新"方面存在明显的性别差异,在"热爱学生"、"有责任心、积极性"方面存在明显的职称差异,在"热爱教育、热爱学校、热爱本专业方面"存在明显的地区差异,而年龄、教龄和学历对教师的师德观没有显著影响.在中小学教师师德培养中,应加强对教师"严谨治学"、"公平对待学生"、"提高科研水平"等的培养.     

Moral educational implications of rival conceptions of education and the role of the teacher

Education and teaching are deeply contested notions, not just in the sense that there is serious disagreement about what teachers should teach and how they should teach it, but also insofar as there seem to be widely divergent conceptions of the occupational status of education and teaching as such. Indeed, it is one indication of the complexity of teaching that it would, over the years, appear to have invited comparison with a wide range of other professions, vocations, trades and services. However, there are also grounds for supposing that these different conceptions of the occupational status of education and teaching are not just rival but incompatible, and that such incompatibility might be manifested in diverse implications for the moral educational role of the teacher. This article is concerned to identify and explore such implications.     

Book Reviews

Mentors responsible for student primary teachers on school placement were asked about the qualities they expected to see in their trainees. The key finding from an analysis of their responses was that although they were concerned with abilities relating to planning and teaching, the majority of responses were to do with student teachers’ personal attributes. Evidence from this small‐scale survey suggested that mentors believed that unless certain personal qualities and attitudes were present in student teachers, the process of teaching‐and‐learning was unlikely to be effective, however well planned and executed it was. The virtue of ‘being willing’ figured particularly strongly in mentors’ replies, raising difficult questions about the significance of relationships, character, and personality as determinants in teaching effectiveness. The implications for student teachers’ professional growth in demonstrating willingness through their positive response to mentors’ advice form a key element of the article.     

The influence of experience on pre-service and novice teachers – the Croatian perspective

This paper researches students’ and teacher trainees’ personal experience of student-centred teaching during their education in grades 1–4 of primary school. The questionnaire comprised 45 statements and was completed by 403 primary school teacher trainees and 535 students (future teachers) at Faculties of Teacher Education in Croatia. The research results show that students do not have sufficient prior experience that they could use as inspiration in their future teaching practice and that in the course of their education they were mainly exposed to traditional approach to teaching. The majority of teacher trainees are aware of the importance of student-centred teaching although they cannot fully give up the control of students and educational process. This research opens up the issue of a paradigm change within the teaching system and education in Croatia as well as the issue of changes within education and professional development of teachers.     

Early years teachers’ epistemic beliefs and beliefs about children’s moral learning

There is strong political and social interest in values education both internationally and across Australia. Investment in young children is recognised as important for the development of moral values for a cohesive society; however, little is known about early years teachers’ beliefs about moral values teaching and learning. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationships between Australian early years teachers’ epistemic beliefs and their beliefs about children’s moral learning. Three hundred and seventy-nine teachers completed a survey about their personal epistemic beliefs and their beliefs about children’s moral learning. Results indicated that teachers with more sophisticated epistemic beliefs viewed children as capable of taking responsibility for their own moral learning. Conversely, teachers who held more naïve or simplistic personal epistemic beliefs agreed that children need to learn morals through learning the rules for behaviour. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for moral pedagogy in the classroom and teacher professional development. It is suggested that in conjunction with explicitly reflecting on epistemic beliefs, professional development may need to assist teachers to ascertain how their beliefs might relate to their moral pedagogies in order to make any adjustments.     

Training skilful teachers

The Teacher Education Project was a research and development project, funded by the Department of Education and Science, which analyzed over 1000 lessons given by novice and experienced teachers in secondary schools. There were 23 research studies which focused principally on class management and control, questioning and explaining, and the teaching of mixed-ability groups. In the case studies of student teachers, effective class managers were seen to have good personal relationships with their students, be well prepared and organized and be able to ask questions skilfully and explain clearly. Most disorder in students' lessons consisted of excessive noise and there were few serious disruptions. Teachers were asked to keep a log of questions they asked and a number of strategies were elicited from their self-reports. Experimental work on explaining showed that the most successful explainers made more varied cognitive demands on pupils, used more framing and focusing statements, and more visual aids. The project produced sets of workbooks which were rated “helpful” or “very helpful” by 90% of users, as well as sets of slides on class management and group work.     

Pastoral Care, Spirituality and Physical Education

Within the sphere of Physical Education (PE), many observers ( Shields and Bredemeier, 1995; Capel, 2003; Green, 2003 ) have identified PE staff as having a special empathy for children's pastoral care needs and the development of Personal, Social, and Health Education (PSHE). Such factors as the varied situations and venues in which the subject is delivered, including off-campus and extra curricular activities, perhaps lead interested staff into work that locks into the welfare and personal development needs of children. Accordingly, one of the more interesting challenges posed by National Curriculum Physical Education (NCPE) in England and Wales is that it requires the teacher to address the spiritual development of the pupil; this obligation is made clear through the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) elements of the subject. This paper focuses attention on the merging of this separate spiritual dimension with the other three concepts. While the moral, social and cultural elements of SMSC are recognized components of PE participation, the grouping raises the question of whether PE teachers can develop children's spiritual growth. This paper argues that such a pathway may be possible but that at present there is considerable confusion related to the challenge.     

Lockean Puzzles

In analytic moral philosophy it is standard to use unrealistic puzzles to set up moral dilemmas of a sort that I will call Lockean Puzzles. This paper will try to pinpoint just what is and what is not problematic about their use as a teaching tool or component part of philosophical arguments. I will try to flesh out the claim that what may be lost sight of in such Lockean puzzling is the personal dimension of moral deliberation—for example, moral problems differ from technical problems in the sense that they are non-transferable, we cannot hand them over to others for solution.