Enhancing teachers’ counselling skills: student teachers’ views on a teachers’ education programme

The purpose of this small‐scale study is to investigate the outcomes of a brief teacher education programme by exploring student teachers’ views. The teacher education programme aimed to provide teachers with the opportunity to develop qualities and skills that facilitate communication and to enhance teachers’ competence to apply social and emotional (SEL) programmes’ intervention activities in the classroom. According to student teachers’ estimations, the teacher education programme provided them with new knowledge and experiences in communication and counselling, which they felt they could use in teaching practice. Besides, teachers reported that the programme enabled them to develop their self‐awareness and to adopt a non‐directive attitude during the implementation of SEL programme’s activities.     

Changes in student teachers’ motives and the meaning of teacher education programme quality

This study provides insights into possible changes in 83 student teachers’ motives for becoming teachers, their professional commitment and their self-efficacy after a year of teacher education. Furthermore, it addresses the extent to which these changes relate to student teachers’ perceptions of their learning environment – specifically, their perceptions of the quality of teaching, generic skills and assessment. Student teachers completed a survey at the beginning and at the end of a single year of teacher education, which revealed significant changes in their motives and self-efficacy regarding tasks within the classroom and throughout the broader school context. No relationship between this change and teachers’ perceptions of their learning environment was observed. Instead, student teachers’ perception of the quality of teaching predicted their assessments of their ability and self-efficacy in a school context at the end of their education.     

University teachers’ perspectives on the role of the Laplace transform in engineering education

The Laplace transform is an important tool in many branches of engineering, for example, electric and control engineering, but is also regarded as a difficult topic for students to master. We have interviewed 22 university teachers from five universities in three countries (Mexico, Spain and Sweden) about their views on relationships among mathematics, physics and technology/application aspects in the process of learning the Laplace transform in engineering education. Strikingly, the teachers held a spectrum of qualitatively differing views, ranging from seeing virtually no connection (e.g. some thought the Laplace transform has no relevance in engineering), through to regarding the aspects as intimately, almost inseparably linked. The lack of awareness of the widely differing views among teachers might lead to a lack of constructive alignment among different courses that is detrimental to the quality of engineering education.     

Pre-service teachers’ views on inclusive education in Ghana

Pre-service teacher training has been identified as one of the key factors in the promotion of inclusive education. In this study, 200 final-year pre-service teachers from three colleges of education in Ghana were surveyed about their views and knowledge on inclusive education and special educational needs (SEN). The results showed that almost all of the participants had been introduced to the concept of inclusion during their studies. However, only one-third felt highly, or somewhat, prepared to teach children with SEN. The level of knowledge and feelings of self-efficacy were highest among those pre-service teachers who had personal experience of supporting children with SEN during their practicum. The participants tended to prefer those inclusive instructional strategies that were easiest to apply in general education classrooms. Significant differences in the outcomes were found between the three colleges studied indicating strong effects of the teacher education model applied in each college.     

An exploration of EFL teachers’ attributions

The present study investigated English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ attributions of success and failure. It also set out to investigate whether these attributions vary by teachers’ age, teaching experience, gender and educational level. To do so, 200 EFL teachers were selected according to convenience sampling among EFL teachers teaching English in Language Institutes in Mashhad and Tehran, two cities in Iran. The participants completed the language teacher attribution scale measuring four attributions: teaching competency (TC), teacher effort (TE), student effort (SE) and institution supervision (IS). The present study yielded mixed results regarding English language teachers’ attributions of success and failure events. It was also found that these attributions vary by their age, teaching experience and educational level, but not by gender. The discussion and implications of the research are further presented with reference to the earlier findings.     

Seeking inclusive education: disrupting boundaries of ‘special’ and ‘regular’ education

The present paper is part of a larger study carried out in North Queensland, Australia, between 1999 and 2001. The original study focused on the perceptions of 15 women who each have (or had) a child who was medically, educationally and socio‐culturally constituted as having a disability. Qualitative methods were used for research design and to gather data. Poststructural and feminist perspectives were added to provide additional methods of data analysis. The primary focus in this paper is the spatiality of inclusive education with/in the discursive site of (special) education. It also considers the binary of regular/special education in relation to the spaces of educational discourse through the perspectives of the mothers, covering a temporal frame of 40 years. The mothers’ perceptions provide a historical lens on the changes that occurred in special education in North Queensland over this time, while at the same time offer an insight into the spaces disability occupies in education discourse.     

Regular education teachers’ concerns on inclusive education in China from the perspective of concerns-based adoption model

ABSTRACT

Teachers’ concerns have been regarded as one of the key variables closely associated with successful implementation of innovative educational changes. China has initiated educational reform toward inclusive education since 1980s. Research related to inclusive education is very limited and teachers’ concerns remain unclear and are seldom investigated. The purpose of this study is to investigate the levels of Chinese regular education teachers’ concerns towards inclusive education by utilising Concerns-Based Adoption Model as a framework. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire was refined to conform to the Chinese educational context and administered for data collection in Beijing from a sample of 425 regular education teachers. The result indicates that regular education teachers make decisions on whether or not to implement inclusive education based on what they know about inclusive education and how effective it is to be. Regular education teachers demonstrate a ‘Multiple Peak User Profile’ in the Stages of Concern model, and that their concerns vary according to a few demographic factors. The results inform educational leaders’ decision making in improving programmes for teachers’ professional development for inclusion.     

An inclusive higher education? Gay and bisexual male teachers and the cultural politics of sexuality

Both the Dearing Report and the UK government's recent Green Paper on lifelong learning—The Learning Age—have made explicit references to an inclusive system of higher education and its contribution to a more inclusive society. This paper begins by examining the understandings of inclusivity displayed in The Learning Age and discusses the limitations of discourses that restrict the inclusion debate to matters of access. It argues that inclusivity rests on not only access but also the experience of higher education and it points to the need for both structural and cultural change. The paper then presents acase study of gay and bisexual male higher education teachers that draws on in-depth interview-based material from a UK study. It explores how inclusive higher education is with respect to gay and bisexual men and considers structural inequalities that remain, for example, in relation to equal opportunity policies and pension entitlements. The paper also considers the cultural practices of the gay and bisexual male teachers, for example, their engagement in cultural production through teaching and research and their attempts to wrestle control over identity construction in day-to-day interactions. The paper concludes by considering how a relational understanding of difference might offer possibilities for the diverse ‘voices’ of different groups to be reconciled with a collective view of what constitutes the ‘higher education community’ as a whole.     

Chinese student teachers’ perspectives on becoming a teacher in the practicum: emotional and ethical dimensions of identity shaping

This research examines the emotional and ethical dimensions of identity shaping in student teachers’ teaching practicum. By interviewing seven Chinese student teachers who had just finished their student teaching practice, the research examines the participants’ emotional experiences and the ethical dilemmas they encountered in their practicum. Specifically, for the emotional aspect of professional identity formation, the student teachers experienced eagerness and anxiety at the beginning of the teaching practicum, shock and embarrassment once teaching, and guilt and regret towards the end of the practicum. Alongside the influx of emotional experiences in the practicum, the researcher identified four paired ethical dilemmas that the participants were trapped within: (1) tensions between classroom authority and the ethic of caring; (2) acting as a community member or an ‘outsider’; (3) working as an office assistant or a ‘real teacher’; (4) conflicting pedagogies regarding teaching different tracks of students. Finally, implications for teacher education are briefly discussed.     

Using concept maps to elicit and study student teachers’ perceptions about inclusive education: a Tanzanian experience

In this study, concept map activities were used to trigger group discussions about inclusive education, with a focus on learners with disabilities. The participants were 226 Tanzanian student teachers. This article reports and discusses how the maps were analysed and what they indicate about the students’ thinking about certain aspects of inclusive education. The results also indicate that concept mapping as an activity in teacher education may be useful and engaging for students. It may help them to organise knowledge and make them aware of their own and others’ understanding of inclusive education practices. An analysis of concept maps constructed by student teachers may also help lecturers to identify views, misconceptions, knowledge gaps and insights about inclusion in education settings.     

Union gives strength: mainstream and special education teachers’ responsibilities in inclusive co-taught classrooms

Co-teaching has gained considerable interest as a means of promoting the inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream education. Nowadays, there is a consensus among researchers that co-teaching should provide effective education to all students in a mainstream class. This study aims to explore co-teachers’ attitudes towards co-teaching responsibilities in Greek mainstream classrooms. In particular, it examines co-teachers’ attitudes with regard to their non-class-time (planning and evaluation) and class-time (instruction and behaviour management) responsibilities for students with and without disabilities. Four hundred co-teachers participated in this survey study. Overall, our findings demonstrate that mainstream education teachers and special education teachers disagree about their respective class-time and non-class-time responsibilities, and that their role influences their attitudes towards these responsibilities. The study concludes that the different attitudes of co-teachers towards their responsibilities could hinder the development of a shared approach in teaching students with and without disabilities in inclusive classrooms.

Union gives strength

Aesop

(ca. 620-564 BC)     

Predicting pre-service teachers’ preparedness for inclusive education: Bangladeshi pre-service teachers’ attitudes and perceived teaching-efficacy for inclusive education

This study reports on the second phase of a larger study, which investigated the preparedness of pre-service teachers to teach in inclusive classrooms in Bangladesh. Phase 1 employed two standardised scales that were used with 1623 pre-service teachers from 16 teacher education institutions to measure their attitudes and perceived teaching-efficacy for inclusive education. The findings of Phase 1 indicated that the level and length of training, along with gender, influenced both teacher attitudes and teaching-efficacy. In Phase 2, semi-structured interviews with six administrative heads of the pre-service teacher education institutions were conducted in order to better understand these findings. Outcomes of Phase 2 indicated that curriculum, teacher-related and a number of contextual variables may explain the differences in the findings of this study that were in sharp contrast to those from previous international research. Recommendations for policy and curriculum reform for pre-service teacher education are also made.     

Practitioners’ perspectives on the purpose of environmental education

Since the 1980s, scholars have suggested that environmental education (EE) has a ‘definitional problem’ represented by a multiplicity of perspectives that have critically impacted its discourse, practices, and outcomes. This study sought to investigate how North American EE practitioners from backgrounds ranging from formal and non-formal institutions think about their work. We focused on folk narratives and emerging urban environmental concerns of community education rather than reliance on academic opinion alone. Using Q methodology, the study identified five distinct perspectives that appear to represent different ways of prioritizing EE outcomes. All five perspectives were concerned with promoting sustainable living and improved human well-being, but the nuances suggest that an individual who adheres strongly to one may feel someone holding a contrasting perspective is working at cross-purposes. The authors suggest that understanding these perspectives can help reduce misunderstanding within the EE field.     

Evaluating the effect of a teacher training programme on the primary teachers’ attitudes,knowledge and teaching strategies regarding special educational needs

Research has consistently stressed that regular school teachers are important in determining the success of implementing inclusive education. It was also found that teachers’ attitudes, their knowledge about special educational needs (SEN) and teaching strategies are prerequisites for implementing inclusive education successfully. This study examines the effects of an in-service teacher training programme on regular primary school teachers’ attitudes and knowledge about SEN and about teaching strategies. A pre- and post-test control group design study was set up (N_{experimental group} = 33, N_{control group} = 34), comprising 11 public primary schools. The training programme consisted of 32 hours face-to-face training sessions, covering topics about attitudes and knowledge about SEN and about teaching strategies. In order to establish the effects of the training programme, attitudes and knowledge were measured at two moments: before and after the training programme was performed. The outcomes of ANCOVA revealed significant positive effects of the training programme on most dependent variables (attitudes, knowledge about SEN and about teaching strategies) with medium to large effect sizes. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Instructors’ perspectives on the utility of student ratings of instruction

This study investigates instructors’ attitudes about student ratings of instruction. The sample consisted of 357 instructors at a major Canadian university, where student evaluation is carried out in all courses at the end of each term. Instructors tend to agree that the student rating practice is an acceptable means of assessing institutional integrity, and is useful to administrators in making summative decisions. However, they consider the student evaluations only marginally valuable in their impact on enhancing instruction. Implications for the development of student ratings are discussed.     

Japanese in-service teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education and self-efficacy for inclusive practices

Using a sample of 359 in-service teachers, this study examines Japanese teachers' attitudes toward inclusive education and their self-efficacy for inclusive practices. The results indicate that although teachers’ sentiments toward disabilities were generally positive, the teachers had some concerns about implementing inclusive education in their classroom. The overall level of self-efficacy was relatively low in the Japanese sample compared to that of other countries, particularly in relation to managing problematic student behavior. Self-efficacy regarding managing behavior and collaboration was related to overall attitudes toward inclusive education. The findings can enable useful insights in developing pre-service and in-service teacher education.     

Head teachers’ spirituality and inclusive education: a perspective from critical realism

ABSTRACT

Spiritual leadership gains attention amongst researchers for closing the gap between achieving personal and organisational goals. Despite documentations that spirituality undergirds head teacher’s actions leading inclusive schools, research still remains thin in understanding how spirituality underpins leadership for inclusive education. This paper draws on the philosophy of critical realism to offer a conceptual tool that identifies head teachers’ spiritual actions in their efforts to include ethnic minority students. This is done through multiple qualitative methods collection from an in-depth case study at a multicultural primary school in Cyprus. The critical realist framework helps uncover head teacher’s spiritual actions in a more systematic, structured and holistic way. It reveals that head teachers’ spirituality supports the goals of inclusion and occurs in at least four interrelated and emergent ontological levels (psychological, social, cultural and policy levels) which are set in four scaler levels from microscopic to macroscopic (sub-individual, micro, meso and macro levels). This framework problematises mono-dimensional and reductionist understandings of spirituality in leadership. The paper concludes by suggesting solutions to enrich leadership programmes for inclusive education with fostering leaders’ spirituality at different ontological levels.     

Students’ and teachers’ perspectives about quality of engineering education in Portugal

Quality in higher education is a subject of increasing importance. This idea can be supported by looking at different sources, namely, the scientific literature, national and transnational governments’ policies, such as those emerging from the Bologna Process. Also, the internationalisation of higher education and, within it, students’ and staff mobility among institutions, has brought to the agenda the quality issue, particularly with regard to the teaching and learning process. Several authors argue that the meaning of quality depends on who defines it. This article focuses on a study that looks at how teachers and students in higher education institutions, in Portugal and in the domain of Engineering, see the quality issue. Data was collected through interviews to teachers (six) and students (38) in two different Portuguese institutions. The results indicate that, although teachers and students refer to the same dimensions that influence quality, they have different perspectives about their importance. From the point of view of the authors, this discrepancy requires some pedagogical actions in the context where the study was developed and, also, further research to see if the same tendency exists in different settings.     

An experimental study of a museum-based,science PD programme’s impact on teachers and their students

We present results of an experimental study of an urban, museum-based science teacher PD programme. A total of 125 teachers and 1676 of their students in grades 4–8 were tested at the beginning and end of the school year in which the PD programme took place. Teachers and students were assessed on subject content knowledge and attitudes towards science, along with teacher classroom behaviour. Subject content questions were mostly taken from standardised state tests and literature, with an ‘Explain:’ prompt added to some items. Teachers in the treatment group showed a 7% gain in subject content knowledge over the control group. Students of teachers in the treatment group showed a 4% gain in subject content knowledge over the control group on multiple-choice items and an 11% gain on the constructed response items. There was no overall change in science attitudes of teachers or students over the control groups but we did find differences in teachers’ reported self-efficacy and teaching anxiety levels, plus PD teachers reported doing more student-centered science teaching activities than the control group. All teachers came into the PD with high initial excitement, perhaps reflecting its context within an informal learning environment.     

Building inclusive education on social and emotional learning: challenges and perspectives – a review

This article focuses on conceptual and empirical issues related to the links between social and emotional learning (SEL) and inclusive education. SEL can be defined as the process of socialisation and education related to personal, interpersonal and problem‐solving skills and competencies. This process takes place in formal and informal settings and is influenced by a complex interplay of individual, situational and cultural factors. Beside a person‐centred focus, effective SEL interventions are provided within supportive learning environments and are directed at enhancing the social–emotional environmental factors that influence learning. Underlying theories and models related to SEL are reviewed, completed by empirical data stemming from prevention science, and developmental psychology. The role of SEL will be investigated with respect to children with emotional–behavioural difficulties and their social and cultural context. Finally, the multifaceted role of SEL and its preventive potential in inclusive school settings through modifications of input and content, teaching strategies and processes, as well as the improvement of learning environments are outlined.