Teachers working with interpreters. The deaf student's educational experience

The purpose of this study was to explore the quality of the educational experience of deaf students when they communicate with hearing teachers through interpreters and to determine the implications of that experience for the students' classroom behavior. Qualitative methods were used to collect data from the academic staff and the 28 profoundly to severely deaf adolescents who participated in four-week experientially based workshops in marine science in the summers of 1988 and 1989. Three salient issues emerged: the teacher's knowledge of deafness, the role of the interpreter, and behavior management. Several of the issues that emerged support previous research, such as physical arrangement of students in the classroom, use of notetakers, student attention span, quality of interpreting, and a tendency toward lenient discipline standards. The implications of the study are discussed in terms of teachers and interpreters working together to improve the deaf adolescent's educational experience.     

Carpal tunnel syndrome: the risk to educational interpreters

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is a problem associated with numbness, burning, tingling, tickling or "pins and needles" sensations in the hand. The syndrome has been linked to occupations that require repetitive pinching and/or repetitive wrist movements, both movements associated with sign language interpreting. Educational interpretors may be particularly at risk and so need accurate information regarding this malady. Without such education, some interpreters will worry needlessly while others delay in seeking essential medical attention. This article profiles groups at high risk for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and identifies surgical and rehabilitative treatments.     

Sign language vocabulary development practices and internet use among educational interpreters

Sign language interpreters working in schools often face isolation in terms of their sign language vocabulary development opportunities. The purposes of this study were to determine the key demographic characteristics of educational interpreters in British Columbia, to identify the resources they use to learn new vocabulary, and to shed light on their Internet use and access levels, with a view to exploring the viability of this resource as a tool for vocabulary development for interpreters working in educational settings. Key demographics associated with interpreters' access to time and materials in advance of a lesson were job title and graduation from an interpreter training program. Interpreters with job titles that reflected their status as interpreters had more preparatory time each week than interpreters who had job titles focused on their roles as educational assistants. Interpreters overwhelmingly expressed the need for continuing professional development with respect to vocabulary development. In terms of the resources currently used, human resources (colleagues, deaf adults) were used significantly more often than nonhuman (books, videotapes, Internet). The resource use results showed that convenience was more important than quality. Books were used more often than videotapes, CD-ROMs, and the Internet, although the latter three had higher percentages of very satisfied users than did books. The design and content of online vocabulary resources and limited interpreter preparation time were identified as current issues keeping the Internet from reaching its potential as an easily accessible visual resource. Recommendations aimed at enhancing the viability of the Internet as a vocabulary development tool for educational interpreters are discussed.     

Extraordinary conversations in public schools

This article reviews two ethnographic studies in which "disruptive pedagogies" are engaged in public schools, designed to enable youth to work across categories of difference toward a grounded sense of social critique and participation. Respectfully challenging/extending the premises of reproduction theory, it is argued that educational researchers not only need to theorize the means of (re)production by which public schools insure class, race, ethnic and gender stratification, but also to theorize how counter-hegemonic moments in school, in which educators undertake disruptive pedagogies, affect social consciousness and community.     

Printing in the public schools

An important hallmark of American teacher education has been its integral role in 4-year or comprehensive colleges and universities for the past 100 years. In more than 1,100 colleges in the United States, teacher education is offered as one of many baccalaureate or graduate-level programs. The preparation of elementary and secondary and special and vocational teachers is offered as an integral part of comprehensive or university-based programs. Today that situation is threatened by a number of factors that are separating teacher education from its traditional place in American higher education. These factors include (a) the inability of campus-based teacher education programs to keep pace with the accelerating demands and expectations of policymakers, (b) alternative preparation programs that are proliferating and gaining credibility, (c) resource constraints that are pervasive and real, (d) teacher shortage conditions that demand a response, (e) new forms of professional development that invite separation from university Inservice Education of Teachers (INSET) courses, (f) widespread development of professional development schools (PDSs), and (g) a commitment to assess teacher candidates separate from and outside the university. Without responses to these factors, Ed Schools are likely to see this separation accelerate and could experience the relocation of teacher education off the campus and to a variety of other providers. Preserving the unique role that teacher education plays as an essential part of American higher education is a major challenge. The factors just cited are reinforced by a host of public policy and academic initiatives that are causing teacher education to be dispersed and deinstitutionalized and "reembedded in other sites and spaces" (Hargreaves, 1995, p. 7). Reinforcing this relocation are the efforts of college faculty and Ed School "reformers" who are creating 100% field-based programs or recentering teacher education in PDSs. Those new field- or school-based entities enforce the idea of embedding teacher education in entities away from and often separate from universities. A hostile fiscal and policy environment adds to the potential for relocation and poses significant consequences for Ed School faculty in the United States.     

Cumulative trauma disorders among educational interpreters. Contributing factors and intervention.

Upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders became a potentially significant occupational hazard among sign language interpreters at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in the 1988-89 academic year. The following case control study was conducted to identify factors that might play a role in developing, exacerbating, and maintaining upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders among interpreters. Investigations were conducted to determine whether medical status, physical capacities, interpreting styles, pain, fatigue, and job stress differed among NTID's sign language interpreters. This report provides a general summary of selected findings as well as a conceptual framework that should help clarify the factors associated with upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders in sign language interpreters. The results indicated that the upper extremity cumulative trauma disorder diagnosed most often is tendinitis rather than a nerve entrapment syndrome (e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome). Analysis of the frequency of potential biomechanical risk factors indicated that those reporting pain demonstrated higher frequency of hand and wrist deviations from the neutral position, higher frequency of the upper extremities leaving a predefined work space, fewer rest breaks during interpreting sessions, and higher evaluator ratings of pace of finger and hand movements. Specific features of interpreting styles were associated with increased pain and fatigue.     

终身教育理论对我国中小学课程与教学改革的影响

终身教育理论强调教育不应该局限于学校教育阶段,教育应该是个体从摇篮到坟墓的终身化的过程,教育应该是面向全体成员的,应该更加关注学习者的实际需求,关注学习者学习能力和终身学习情感态度的养成;终身教育理论的问世,奠定了我国中小学课程与教学改革的理论基础,对我国继续教育的目标、课程与教学内容、教学模式诸多方面产生了重大的影响。     

Feedback in educational communication in Czech secondary schools

This paper introduces an empirical study that examines how teachers evaluate pupils?? responses. The study draws on research undertaken at four secondary schools in the Czech Republic. It transpires that feedback has a stable position in the structure of communication; however, it is used only to verify pupils?? responses and not to elaborate them. An important feature of feedback is its implicitness and near-zero content value resulting from the teachers?? preferences to avoid explicit evaluative comments. This type of feedback is not in accordance with the concepts of dialogical education that currently dominate the field of the theory of educational communication.     

Grade retention: Current decision‐making practices and involvement of school psychologists working in public schools

Research examining student outcomes (e.g., achievement, adjustment) after grade retention reveals that it does not result in long‐term improvements for students; however, grade retention continues to be used as an intervention. The purpose of this study was to examine retention decision‐making practices, as well as school psychologists' knowledge, beliefs, and opinions regarding retention. Actual and ideal roles of school psychologists in grade retention decisions were also examined. Participants included 250 school psychologists randomly selected from the membership of the National Association of School Psychologists. Results revealed that the decision to retain is a subjective one, typically made by a team. Responding school psychologists did not support retention and found the research moderately applicable to practice. However, most school psychologists indicated that they were not centrally involved in decision making. Findings also revealed a desire among school psychologists for increased involvement in developing and/or implementing programs aimed at improving performance and consulting on the effects of retention. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Speech correction in Wisconsin public schools

The character of Reagan's rhetoric and the response to it can be explained by its narrative form. The dominance of narrative in Reagan's discourse and the nature of the narrative form combine to differentiate the perspective of Reagan's supporters and his opponents. Three characteristics of narrative form—a story‐based truth, an emphasis on morality, and a grounding in common sense—explain the way in which narrative affects political judgment. The analysis reveals the power of narrative form and, in contrast to the assertions of some narrative theorists, its fragility and moral limitations.     

Vocal English in our public schools

ON DECONSTRUCTION: THEORY AND CRITICISM AFTER STRUCTURALISM. By Jonathan Culler. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982; pp. 307. Paper $8.95.

FEROCIOUS ALPHABETS. By Denis Donoghue. New York: Columbia University Press, 1984; pp. 211. Paper $7.95.

LITERARY THEORY: AN INTRODUCTION. By Terry Eagleton. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983; pp. 244. Paper $9.95.

CRITICISM AND SOCIAL CHANGE. By Frank Lentricchia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983; pp. 173. $15.00.

REPRESENTING KENNETH BURKE. Edited by Hayden White and Margaret Brose. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982; pp. 175. $14.95.     

The complex task of leading educational change in schools

The leadership of educational change in schools is a complex task, particularly at a time when schools are being granted greater autonomy but are also under greater scrutiny through the publication of high stakes test results. This paper examines the complexity of the task of changing a school culture and the challenges faced by leaders engaged in this task. It is informed by case studies of two principals involved in a project designed to bring long-term change. The study provides insight into the qualities which make change leaders effective, and the different ways that leaders manage the task. The paper concludes with implications for the management and sustainability of change in schools.     

The public returns to public educational investments in African-American males

This paper calculates the public savings (financial benefits) from greater public investments in the education of African-American males. Over one-fifth of each age cohort of black males in US is not a high school graduate. We identify five interventions that would—based on credible research—increase the graduation rate; we also report the public cost of each intervention. We then calculate the lifetime public benefits in terms of increased tax revenues and lower spending on health and crime. In present values, for a black male aged 20, these public benefits amount to $256,700 per new graduate and the median intervention would cost only $90,700. The benefit/cost ratio is 2.83. Simply equating the high school graduation rate of black males with that of white males would yield public savings of $3.98 billion for each age cohort. These results suggest that increased investments in education for black males at risk of dropping out of high school should be an economic priority.     

Denominational schools and public schooling

The author argues that the critical question in determining whether denominational schools should receive public funding is: Does the school provide an education in accordance with publicly accepted criteria for that concept and in accordance with the dominant values in society? A public system of schooling has itsraison d'être in the need to provide a common understanding. This is not incompatible with acceptance of private schools, nor, despiteprima facie oddity, is there anything incoherent about the idea of providing state funding for private schools. So far as denominational schools go, therefore, the conclusion is that they are deserving of state support provided that they do not promote values and beliefs antithetical to the larger community, and, specifically, that they do not engage in the anti-educational practice of indoctrination.     

Recognising and managing pupils with mental health difficulties: teachers' views and experiences on working with educational psychologists in schools

The role and future directions of the educational psychology services are being re‐examined and there is a drive to build a more integrated system of services for children and young people that incorporates education, health and social care. This qualitative study examines teacher’s perspectives on their professional involvement with educational psychology services. The results indicate that while it was clear that educational psychologists are highly valued by teachers, there are a number of issues that teachers believe constrain service provision. We suggest that greater cross‐system consultation is needed in order to more closely examine how the roles of professionals working in education, health and social care services impact on each other.     

What we talk about when we talk about education: the private and public educational talk of teachers in schools

One of the central challenges for a school is the creation of a public discourse which expresses the shared purpose of the school community, without losing the multiple and different voices within the teaching staff. In this article we report on the generative potential of educational conversation, when it is structured around questions which allow teachers to reflect on their best teaching selves in past practice and to project those selves into future situations. We suggest that within the staff, the public relating of teaching narratives, and the reflective conversation to which they give rise, constitutes a public and collective form of enquiry into teaching and learning. We argue that reflective conversation is dependent upon critical listening, where the listener is open to what is being said, but is also prepared to ask questions that open up the topic of teaching and learning in ways that are revelatory for both speaker and listener.     

Teaching writing in Brazilian public high schools

Reading and Writing - Writing skills are crucial for high school students’ academic, social, and professional success in Brazil. Developing the ability to write, however, is a demanding...