Narrative autoethnography and the promotion of spiritual well‐being in teacher research and practice

This article demonstrates through an example the usefulness of autoethnography as a mechanism for teachers acquiring clarity about their spiritual experiences, which has the potential to contribute to facilitating pupils’ spiritual growth. I begin by examining the role of the spiritual dimension in the promotion of a holistic model of education. The purposes and ethical implications of autoethnographic research and its benefits for teacher development are addressed. A story about illness, neurosurgery and rehabilitation is presented, written according to introspective and autoethnographic techniques. The narrative reflects aspects of the writer’s spiritual growth and highlights the need among teachers to explore their own spiritual well‐being as much as the spiritual well‐being of their pupils. Suggestions are made about the diverse use of narrative to promote spiritual learning experiences in the classroom. This is an important part of the work carried out by teachers in the delivery of a curriculum that prepares learners to fulfil their potential in life and work.     

Pedagogical well‐being: reflecting learning and well‐being in teachers’ work

Teachers’ learning and occupational well‐being is crucial in attaining educational goals both in the classroom and at the school community level. In this article teachers’ occupational well‐being that is constructed in teaching–learning processes within the school community is referred to as pedagogical well‐being. The article focuses on exploring teachers’ experienced pedagogical well‐being by examining the kinds of situations that teachers themselves find either empowering and engaging or burdening and stressful in their work. The study aims to: (1) identify the primary contexts of teachers’ experienced critical incidents of pedagogical well‐being; and (2) determine the kind of action strategies teachers have adopted in these contexts when they are reported as empowering and engaging. The study included data collected from the teachers of nine case‐schools around Finland. Altogether, a selected group of 68 comprehensive school teachers, including both primary and secondary school teachers, were interviewed. Our results suggested that interaction with pupils in socially and pedagogically challenging situations constitutes the core of teachers’ pedagogical well‐being. Success in both the pedagogical goals and more general social goals seem to be fundamental preconditions for teachers’ experienced pedagogical well‐being. Further investigation showed that teachers’ approaches to socially challenging situations varied. Results suggest that teachers’ pedagogical well‐being is centrally generated in the challenging social interactions of their work. Moreover, the way in which a teacher acts in the situation is found to be a regulator for experienced pedagogical well‐being.     

Resisting images of the ‘diminished self’: the implications of emotional well‐being and emotional engagement in education policy

Developing people’s emotional well‐being and emotional engagement are official aims in social policy. A growing number of initiatives respond to diverse, often contradictory public, political and professional concerns about individuals’ emotional needs. These concerns are a powerful discourse in ‘personalised learning’.

The article contributes to debates in critical policy research. It evaluates the subtle ways in which policy initiatives to develop emotional well‐being and encourage emotional engagement with public services resonate with images of the ‘diminished self’ emerging in broader cultural discourses. Critical evaluation is necessary in order for researchers and educators committed to social justice to challenge the influential idea that emotional well‐being should be a prominent educational goal and to resist the diminished images of human potential that underlie it.     

Using Human Givens therapy to support the well‐being of adolescents: a case example

This article outlines the use of Human Givens (HG) therapy with adolescents reporting poor subjective well‐being. HG therapy is based on the assumption that human beings have innate needs, which, if unmet, lead to emotional distress and mental health problems. Hitherto, there has been no independently published empirical research into the efficacy of HG as a therapeutic intervention with young people. The article examines the theory and background to HG therapy; the emotional well‐being of children; and young people and counselling and therapeutic interventions in schools, before describing an exploratory case study into the effectiveness of the HG approach. This involves assessing the efficacy of an individual HG intervention for three young people reporting high anxiety or depression and/or low self concept. The HG process and therapy structure are detailed through an illustrative case study regarding a 16‐year‐old girl with moderate levels of anxiety and low self‐concept. Positive outcomes are observed for all three young people, providing tentative evidence that HG therapy might be useful to practitioners delivering therapeutic interventions in schools, although limitations of the small‐scale research design are highlighted. Issues relating to the provision of individual therapeutic interventions in school are discussed more widely, as are other possible applications of the HG approach in schools.     

Performativity,well‐being,social class and citizenship in English schools

A range of initiatives to promote well‐being and empowerment have been introduced into English schools. These ostensibly support the citizenship curriculum that seeks to foster a more active and engaged populace. Whilst children are being encouraged to view their own well‐being as a personal project (and as a badge of successful citizenship), this process is being undermined by an informal curriculum of citizenship, embedded within the culture of performativity, that is promoting a climate of misrecognition within schools. This form of “symbolic violence” (that affects working‐class families disproportionately) is encroaching into the private sphere, traditionally a potential refuge providing opportunities for the development of forms of well‐being that were not dependent on institutional endorsement. It is suggested that some of the counter‐hegemonic values developed in the face of marginalisation might usefully inform issues of citizenship and well‐being in schools in ways that would encourage genuinely empowered forms of citizenship.     

Orientations to happiness and subjective well‐being among Chinese prospective and in‐service teachers in Hong Kong

This study investigated three orientations to happiness and their relationships with subjective well‐being in a sample of 228 Chinese prospective and in‐service teachers in Hong Kong. Confirmatory item factor analyses supported a three‐dimensional model that included constructs represented by a life of meaning, a life of pleasure, and a life of engagement. These three orientations, especially the meaningful life and the engaged life were found to predict life satisfaction and positive emotions as two components of subjective well‐being. Implications of the findings on the relationships between orientations and subjective well‐being for helping teachers to promote a more satisfying life to combat against teacher burnout are discussed.     

The contribution of group work programmes to early intervention and improving children’s emotional well‐being

Recent government policy has emphasised links between the acquisition of social skills by children and young people and their educational attainment. This study aims to fill a gap in the literature about the contribution of school‐based group work programmes to developing children’s social skills. National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) Children’s Services Practitioners ran four groups for a total of 38 Year Seven children from mixed ethnic backgrounds in two high schools in the North of England between 2004 and 2007, designed to improve children’s self‐esteem, social skills and behaviour. Parents were involved in identifying objectives and evaluating outcomes. The NSPCC’s aim was to deliver programmes jointly with non‐teaching staff and to train them to take responsibility for delivering future programmes. Pre‐intervention and post‐intervention Behaviour Rating Index for Children questionnaires identified small but significant improvements in teachers’ and parents’ assessments of children’s behaviour. Qualitative data referred to improvements in children’s self‐esteem. However, evaluation data showed that the groups struggled to cope with children with very disruptive behaviour, for whom a wider range of interventions and continuing support were required. Key variables included the quality of liaison between the NSPCC and school staff and the provision of suitable venues. Challenges included harmonising education and social work perspectives and expectations, and avoiding disruption to school curricula.     

The Management of the Split‐site Primary School

Within the county of Lancashire there are a considerable number of split‐site primary schools. The difficulties associated with this form of organisation and the particular and general needs of the schools had neither been identified, nor discussed. While the research attempted to fulfil this task the report also made recommendations to the Authority and identified good practice which it is hoped will support the management of such schools.     

Gratitude,gratitude intervention and subjective well‐being among Chinese school teachers in Hong Kong

This study assessed the dispositional gratitude and its relationships with orientations to happiness and burnout in a sample of 96 Chinese school teachers in Hong Kong and investigated the effectiveness of an eight‐week gratitude intervention programme using a pre‐test/post‐test design with outcome measures of subjective well‐being in the same sample of teachers. The results indicated that the dispositional gratitude of teachers correlated substantially and positively with a meaningful life orientation to happiness and with personal accomplishment, and correlated substantially and negatively with the two negative components of burnout: emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. The effects of the gratitude intervention were evident in the increase in scores on satisfaction with life and on positive affect, especially for teachers in the low‐gratitude group. Implications of the findings on the relationships between gratitude and burnout and the effectiveness of gratitude intervention for teachers of different levels of dispositional gratitude are discussed.     

Childhood learning,life skills and well‐being in adult life: a Senegalese case

Education is not easily converted into human capital and well‐being in low‐income countries, because these countries do not have a high degree of economic and labour market differentiation that makes it possible to convert acquired knowledge and skills. Consequently, to have completed primary or even secondary education does not necessarily lead to a better life situation than some types of Islamic education. This paper reports findings from an ongoing longitudinal research project in Senegal. The study compares the relationships between educational/learning background, life skills and well‐being in adult life among individuals who attended primary school, Quranic, Arabic or Indigenous learning systems at the beginning of the 1980s. The findings illustrate some of the complexities in the relationships between, on the one hand, education and life skills and, on the other hand, individual well‐being in a low‐income society. Since this study enters into an area that has not been very much researched, this study is explorative and employs concepts heuristically. Some findings in relation to different theoretical approaches are also discussed here.     

Indispensable but Under‐valued: the exploitation of contract research staff

This article describes a study that looked at the presence of metaphor in lectures given in an International Development department at a British university, and at the problems that this caused for overseas students. It was found that metaphor was extremely prevalent and that it was used mainly for evaluative purposes. The interpretations given by overseas students differed significantly from those offered by university lecturers. The overseas students tended to focus on inappropriate connotations of the vehicle in the metaphor. This often meant that they misunderstood the main points of the lecture and, more importantly, misinterpreted the lecturer's stance towards the topic of the lecture. A number of ways are suggested in which this problem might be alleviated.     

Social‐emotional well‐being and resilience of children in early childhood settings – PERIK: an empirically based observation scale for practitioners

Compared with the traditional focus on developmental problems, research on positive development is relatively new. Empirical research in children's well‐being has been scarce. The aim of this study was to develop a theoretically and empirically based instrument for practitioners to observe and assess preschool children's well‐being in early childhood settings. The analysis of preschool teachers' ratings yields six dimensions of social‐emotional well‐being: (1) making contact/social performance, (2) self control/thoughtfulness, (3) self‐assertiveness, (4) emotional stability/coping with stress, (5) task orientation, (6) pleasure in exploration. Composite scales were constructed. PERIK consists of six scales of six items each. The scales differentiate in both the upper and lower range and despite their brevity have good psychometric qualities. The instrument was published together with a booklet containing examples of how PERIK observations can be employed in practical work with children.     

Student teams’ development over time: tracing the relationship between the quality of communication and teams’ performance

Current discussions in higher education and alumni training acknowledge the challenges training programs face in responding to the authentic needs of the labor market. In addition to academic knowledge, higher education institutions are expected to provide general twenty-first-century skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and interpersonal skills. To meet these challenges, many institutions utilize collaborative pedagogies such as learning in teams. However, teamwork in higher education tends to focus primarily on the task aspects of performance at the expense of the team aspects, and for educators, there may be no feasible way to assess whether the students are learning to work successfully as teams. This paper explores how new student teams (n?=?3) that simulate real business teams by taking a challenging entrepreneur assessment, developed over three semesters for general skills (i.e., communication), and whether the improvement in their communication also indicated the teams’ improved performance (i.e., financial success). As an analytical tool, the study relies on initial parameters on teams’ microdynamics of communication [Losada, M. (1999). The complex dynamics of high performance teams. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 30, 179–192] normalized with fuzzy logic. In accordance with the current understanding of team development, the results did not show any linear improvement, but the quality of communication in the teams improved episodically. Further, the results provide evidence of the possible relationship between the improved quality of communication and the teams’ collective financial success. However, in future work, due to the lack of sensitivity of the parameters in this context together with the recent criticisms of the mathematical basis of the patterns of team dynamics based on Losada's parameters, they will be reexamined with a Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis.     

Site‐Based Management and School Success: Untangling the Variables

Site‐based management (SBM) has received decidedly mixed reviews as a reform strategy. Although most scholars who have studied it note that this form of governance can be linked to some positive changes in culture or parent or teacher satisfaction, only a few have observed clear changes in student achievement that can be tied to site‐level autonomy and shared decision‐making within the school. The absence of learning effects may be due to problems in theories undergirding SBM, to weak or uneven implementation, or to methodological problems in evaluative studies. In this study, researchers set out, not to evaluate SBM, but rather to understand how it worked in a school that, by many criteria, could be considered a success. After engaging in a year long, intensive case study at one urban elementary school, the authors concluded that four commitments, deeply embedded in the minds of educators and, to a lesser extent, parents, drove successful reform at this site. The central and organizing commitment was a kind of “learning imperative.” Administrators and teachers were passionate and knowledgeable about learning and determined to do whatever it took to see that students and their families had optimal educational experiences. This imperative was buttressed and supported by three other “imperatives.” Educators viewed themselves as members of a community and felt an imperative to interact in supportive and respectful ways. Most teachers, all administrators, and a number of parents, responding to a leadership imperative, willingly and actively took responsibility for life at the school, and administrators and teachers were determined to be guided by a capacity‐building imperative which required that resources be aimed at promoting learning. Site‐based management facilitated the ability of persons at this site to act on these imperatives. It did not, however, influence the quality of decisions to any great degree.     

‘Doing well’ and ‘being well’—secondary school teachers’ perspectives

The mental health and wellbeing of young people is increasingly a concern in schools. This study explores how English secondary school teachers perceive and engage with the concept of wellbeing. By asking teachers to reflect on their practice, we can draw out their relational experience and knowledge about wellbeing in the classroom. Twenty teachers were interviewed about their practice in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and during the academic year 2020–21. Reflexive thematic analysis reveals the challenges experienced by teachers. Specifically, we find a perceived role conflict for teachers between giving care and purveying knowledge. We draw on recent policy research and the work of Nel Noddings to account for this conflict in terms of conceptualisations of teaching practice and purpose. We illustrate how an emphasis within schools on ‘doing well’ academically undermines and marginalises a more holistic sense of ‘being well’, which contributes to a set of strains on teachers personally, professionally and relationally in terms of their interactions with students and colleagues. We propose that ‘doing well’ arises out of ‘being well’, rather than the converse, and should hence be an educational policy priority. Finally, we offer implications for how wellbeing may be woven into school culture.     

Parental level of education: associations with psychological well‐being,academic achievement and reasons for pursuing higher education in adolescence

The purpose of the current study is to determine the interconnection between parental level of education, psychological well‐being, academic achievement and reasons for pursuing higher education in adolescents. Participants included 439 college freshmen from a mid‐size state university in the northeastern USA. A survey, including indices of parental level of education, life‐satisfaction, academic achievement and reasons for pursuing higher education, was administered in class. Overall results indicated a positive correlation between parental level of education and adolescents’ reasons for pursuing higher education for societal expectations. Furthermore, paternal education independently predicted societal expectations as a reason for college attendance.     

A Review of Research Concerning the Implementation of Site‐Based Management∗

Seventy‐seven empirical and case studies of the implementation of school‐based management (SBM) reported between 1985 and 1995 are reviewed in order to determine obstacles typically encountered in the early to middle stages of such implementation and promising strategies for dealing with them. Results are reported in terms of obstacles relevant to teachers, principals, parents and the wider community, site councils, schools as a whole, and district administrators. These results are discussed in terms of the potential role for SBM in the creation of “high involvement” schools.

     

Breaking the didactic circle: a study on some aspects of the promotion of student‐directed learning by teachers and teacher educators

Although there is a fair amount of knowledge on the issue of promoting student‐directed learning, research indicates that teachers are not always able to put that knowledge into practice. Therefore, new educational practices related to student‐directed learning should be introduced in teacher education. This makes it possible to break the didactic circle of traditionally trained teachers, who take the traditional approach to teaching. This article compares the outcomes of 10 + 9 case studies on student‐directed learning, carried out in two different types of secondary education, with the outcomes of 10 case studies on teacher education in respect of four indicators for student‐directed learning. It explores whether teacher educators take the lead with respect to the promotion of student‐directed learning. As the findings show, this is not the case. We found a lack of attention to personal interest‐oriented learning among student teachers, a lack of competence in using various methods of reflection and a lack of competence in discussing pedagogical choices with student teachers. The conclusion is that student‐directed learning should be supported, in both teaching and teacher education, by devoting more attention to the professional development of teacher educators, especially with respect to these three aspects.

Bien que l'on dispose d'une grande somme de connaissances sur la façon de promouvoir l'apprentissage personnalisé, il ressort de l'étude que les enseignants ne sont pas toujours en mesure de mettre concrètement ces informations en ?uvre. C'est pourquoi de nouvelles pratiques d'enseignement liées à l'apprentissage personnalisé devraient être intégrées à la formation des enseignants. Ceci permettrait de briser le cercle didactique des enseignants formés de façon traditionnelle et n'ayant par conséquent qu'une approche traditionnelle de l'enseignement. Dans le présent article sont comparés les résultats de 10 + 9 études de cas sur l'apprentissage personnalisé effectuées dans deux types différents d'enseignement du second cycle à ceux de 10 études de cas sur la formation des enseignants, au regard de quatre indicateurs pour l'apprentissage personnalisé. Il examine si les formateurs d'enseignants parviennent à imposer la promotion de l'apprentissage personnalisé. Il s'avère que non. Nous avons constaté un manque d'attention accordée à l'apprentissage axé sur les centres d'intérêt personnels chez les futurs enseignants, ainsi qu'un déficit de compétences dans l'utilisation de diverses méthodes de réflexion et dans la discussion des choix pédagogiques avec les futurs enseignants. Nous en concluons qu'il faut promouvoir l'apprentissage personnalisé, tant au niveau de l'enseignement que de la formation des enseignants, en accordant une plus grande importance au développement professionnel des formateurs d'enseignants, notamment en ce qui concerne ces trois aspects.

Obwohl das Wissen über die Förderung des schülerorientierten Lernens beträchtlich ist, weisen Forschungsergebnisse aus, dass Lehrer nicht immer in der Lage sind, dieses Wissen in die Praxis umzusetzen. Aus diesem Grunde sollten neue Praxen in den Bildungsgängen der Lehrerausbildung eingeführt werden, die sich auf schülerorientiertes Lernen beziehen. Das bietet die Möglichkeit, den didaktischen Kreis der herkömmlich ausgebildeten Lehrer zu durchbrechen, die sich der herkömmlichen Unterrichtsmethode verschrieben haben. In diesem Artikel werden die Ergebnisse von 10 + 9 Fallstudien über schülerorientiertes Lernen, die in zwei unterschiedlichen Arten der höheren Schulbildung durchgeführt wurden, mit den Ergebnissen von 10 Fallstudien über Lehrerausbildung in Bezug auf vier Indikatoren für schülerorientiertes Lernen verglichen. Damit wird untersucht, ob Lehrerausbilder die Führung übernehmen, wenn es um die Förderung des schülerorientierten Lernens geht. Wie die Ergebnisse zeigen, ist dies nicht der Fall. Wir stellten mangelnde Beachtung des persönlichen interesseorientierten Lernens der Praktikanten, fehlende Kompetenz in der Nutzung unterschiedlicher Reflexionsmethoden und fehlende Kompetenz in der Erörterung pädagogischer Möglichkeiten mit den Praktikanten fest. Die Schlussfolgerung ist, dass schülerorientiertes Lernen im Lehrberuf und in der Lehrerausbildung unterstützt werden sollte, indem der beruflichen Entwicklung von Lehrerausbildern im Hinblick auf diese drei Aspekte mehr Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet wird.

Aunque abundan los conocimientos acumulados sobre el tema de la promoción del aprendizaje dirigido por los estudiantes, de las investigaciones se desprende que los profesores no siempre son capaces de llevar a la práctica estos conocimientos. Por lo tanto, es imprescindible introducir nuevas prácticas educativas relacionadas con el aprendizaje dirigido por los estudiantes en la formación de profesores. Esto permitiría romper el círculo didáctico de los profesores que recibieron una formación tradicional y que utilizan un método tradicional para enseñar. Este artículo compara los resultados de 10 + 9 estudios de caso sobre el aprendizaje dirigido por los estudiantes, que se llevaron a cabo en dos tipos distintos de enseñanza secundaria, con los resultados de 10 estudios de caso sobre la formación de profesores, en función de cuatro indicadores para el aprendizaje dirigido por los estudiantes. El artículo explora si los formadores de profesores toman la delantera en la promoción del aprendizaje dirigido por los estudiantes. De los resultados se deduce que éste no es el caso. Descubrimos una falta de interés por el aprendizaje orientado hacia los intereses personales entre los estudiantes para profesores, una falta de competencia a la hora de utilizar distintos métodos de reflexión y una falta de competencia a la hora de debatir sobre las opciones pedagógicas con los estudiantes para profesores. De todo ello se concluye que se debe apoyar el aprendizaje dirigido por los estudiantes, tanto en la enseñanza como en la formación de profesores, prestando más atención al desarrollo profesional de los formadores de profesores, especialmente en lo que respecta a estos tres aspectos.