Classroom management in urban schools: proposing a course framework

ABSTRACT

Students of color in urban areas experience a multitude of intersecting oppressive structures that influence their behavior in schools. As a result, teachers in these schools often face distinct student behavior challenges to which they are often ill-equipped to respond. Colorblind approaches to student misbehavior, those that do not acknowledge students’ environments and cultures, are often punitive in nature and result in consequences that are not in students’ best interests. We propose, then, that preservice teachers who aim to teach in urban schools are required to consider contextual and cultural influences on student behavior as part of their teacher preparation coursework. Drawing upon existing scholarship, we propose a course framework that focuses exclusively on techniques that cultivate strong student-teacher relationships and academically supportive student behaviors. The framework consists of five thematic units: 1) trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive classrooms, 2) facing cultural conflicts, 3) culturally informed care, 4) culturally relevant/responsive classroom management, and 5) restorative discipline philosophy and practices.     

Student perceptions of successful learning support for an international high school programme: a comparative case study in Turkey

Abstract

This study used comparative case study methodology to investigate student perceptions of different programmes that prepare them for a challenging high school education programme: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Given the benefits and challenges of the programme, educators and stakeholders want to ensure students feel ready to participate. In the literature, studies support that programmes such as the International General Certificate of Secondary Education and the International Baccalaureate Organisation’s Middle Years Programme prepare students for the IBDP; however, there is a need for students’ voices on how they perceive they are prepared through these programmes. This study investigated three different approaches to IBDP preparation by gaining student insights through a scaled-item questionnaire and interviews. Students identified experiences that gave them skills to monitor their learning and resources that motivated them to participate in an advanced upper-high school programme.     

Not quite university people? Academics teaching on foundation studies programmes in New Zealand universities

ABSTRACT

In the current neoliberal environment in higher education, universities are viewed as a valuable source of income. To generate this income, universities need to attract students, and in order to do so, they need to perform well in global ranking tables. These tables are influenced to a large extent by staff research and postgraduate teaching. Foundation studies programmes (FS) do not usually have a great deal to offer in these categories and this places staff teaching on these programmes in a difficult position. This article explores the perceptions of staff teaching on FS programmes in New Zealand universities, drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with 22 lecturers from four universities. Although lip service is paid in higher education circles to the importance of widening access to university education for traditionally marginalised groups, it appears that staff teaching on FS programmes do not, on the whole, receive acknowledgement, support or reward for the work that they do. Despite their marginalised status, these lecturers are committed to helping second chance learners. However, their ability to make a positive impact on these students’ lives is limited by their lowly status in the university sector. This article discusses the insights of FS staff and considers the implications of their positioning in the university sector. It offers some suggestions as to how, in a small way, universities could address the difficulties these academics face in their attempts to widen university access.     

History and civics education in Israel: reflections from Israeli teachers

In recent years, a number of studies have explored the link between Zionism and the latent racism prevalent in Israeli society. As a result of these studies, it has become clear that successive generations of Israeli citizens (and non-citizens) are exposed to a single historical and cultural narrative. Such a narrative is intentionally designed to strengthen the emergent ethno-national character of Israeli democracy. This study examines a selection of Jewish–Israeli teachers’ reflections on teaching in Israeli high school history and civics classrooms, and the institutionalized racism that they encounter both within the textbooks and from their students. I will demonstrate that these reflections are examples of negotiating dilemmatic spaces, resulting from the unique ‘structural conditions and relations to everyday practices’ that Israeli educators must face. Israeli teachers must mediate the curricular materials vis-à-vis the degrees of freedom they are provided to teach counter-historical narratives and their own emotional responses to both the content of the textbooks and their students’ reactions to the dominant national narrative presented therein.     

An exploration of student teachers’ perspectives at the start of a post-graduate master's programme on inclusive and special education

In this article we explore the perspectives of a group of teaching professionals starting a post-graduate master's programme on inclusive and special education. Set in the current context of growing interest over the preparation of teachers for inclusive education worldwide, this exploration is part of research that looks more broadly at the impact of the programme on students. In this paper we set the context of the study and present results focusing on students’ pre-understanding of the concepts ‘inclusive’ and ‘special education’, as well as their reasons for choosing the programme and expected learning outcomes. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected with a questionnaire administered to students at the beginning of the programme. Findings reveal that students saw the programme as a factor contributing to their ability to implement inclusive education in practice. However, it emerged that they had somewhat different understandings of what ‘inclusive education’ actually means. Implications for providers of inclusive education programmes for teachers are discussed.     

Developing identities in the workplace: students’ experiences of distance early childhood teacher education

In Aotearoa New Zealand, many early childhood teachers gain their teaching qualification via distance study while working in an early childhood centre. Early childhood teachers work in a team environment, and it is important to understand more about how distance students negotiate changes in their workplace practice as their professional knowledge develops. This article draws on a study that explores students’ experiences of distance teacher education as a process of changing participation in the workplace. Distance study supported increasingly confident participation as students saw more meaning in their daily work. The students’ identities and their workplace cultures and practices influenced what students paid attention to and the decisions they made when negotiating changes within their teams. Their experiences suggest that strengthening students’ relational agency at work is a useful focus for distance early childhood teacher education programmes.     

Higher education students’ experiences of a short-term international programme: Exploring cultural competency and professional development

Background: Globalisation trends such as increased migration to and within European countries have led to even greater cultural diversity in European societies. Cultural diversity increases the demand of cultural competency amongst professionals entering their work field. In particular, healthcare professionals need knowledge and skills to equip them to work with clients from different cultural backgrounds. Within higher education (HE), the professional development of cultural competency should ideally feature in undergraduate education and is often promoted as a by-product of a study abroad period. However, recognising that logistical and financial barriers often exist for extended study abroad, one alternative approach could be participation, at home or abroad, in a short-term international programme set within students’ own HE institutions.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore HE students’ experiences of participating in international ‘short-term mobility week’ programmes at three European universities.

Methods: Each university involved in the research offered short-term programmes for healthcare professions students at their own institution, where both local students and students from abroad could participate. Participants were healthcare students in the programme at one of the three universities. Data were collected through focus group interviews (4–8 students per group; n = 25). The data were transcribed and then analysed qualitatively, using a content comparison method.

Results: The analysis identified six categories, which reflected students’ journeys within the short-term international experiences.

Conclusions: The analysis suggested that, for these students, engagement in a short-term mobility week programme provided valuable opportunities for encounters with others, which contributed to personal and professional development, greater confidence in the students’ own professional identities, as well as an increasing sense of cultural awareness.     

内地高校新疆少数民族学生教育管理探析

新疆少数民族学生因为其特殊的文化背景,在内地高校是一个特殊的群体,如何对这一特殊群体进行有效的教育管理是高校教育管理的一个现实的课题。对内地高校少数民族学生思想政治状况及学生的学习、文化适应、就业等问题进行了分析,提出了一些对少数民族学生进行教育管理的措施。     

The role of research education coordinators in building research cultures in doctoral education

The development of cultures of support has become important in programmes for the preparation of research students. The paper draws on in-depth interviews with 21 research education coordinators from Australian and UK institutions to identify the strategies that they use to build research cultures and integrate research students into them. Students’ research cultures are not always linked to departmental research cultures more generally. Local contexts and conditions and staff (including supervisors’) attitudes are found to be critical in how research education coordinators respond and what is considered possible in order to ensure that research students are involved in research cultures.     

International students’ perspectives of a diverse class on multiculturalism

Studying in a foreign country, where one becomes a cultural outsider and where one lacks knowledge of and access to dominant cultural practices, can be a perfect context for challenging students’ values, beliefs, and attitudes, particularly when these experiences are coupled with coursework on diversity. This study explored international students’ perspectives of a diverse class on multiculturalism. Data from 45 students’ reflective journals, course evaluation, and focus group interviews were analysed to identify students’ significant learning experiences. The study provides support for the value of diverse cultural experiences in developing intercultural competence. In addition, the diversity among students contributed to their growing understanding of cultural diversity. The research findings contribute to the development of teacher preparation and enhancement of curricula and practice.     

Relating Higher Education with the Labour Market: Graduates’ expectations and employers’ requirements

The paper takes into discussion the issue of quality of higher education services, from the perspective of graduates and employers as main beneficiaries of higher education services, by putting face to face expectations of students at graduation with employers’ requirements. In the two surveys conducted in 2006 in Romania, both graduates and employers have been asked about skills and abilities developed through higher education programmes and the extent to which these correspond to their expectations and requirements. The discussion is relevant to the vast literature presenting the skills debate, employment and graduates transition to the labour market, as well as to the literature presenting students’ expectations from higher education.     

Exploring the heterogeneity of class in higher education: social and cultural differentiation in Danish university programmes

This paper examines the relationship between social background, choice of university programme and academic culture among Danish university students. Statistically and sociologically, university students are often treated as a homogeneous group, but the ever-increasing number of students in higher education demands a closer examination of the hidden heterogeneity in the students’ social origin and educational strategies. Using a mixed-method approach (register data and ethnographic observations and interviews) the paper focuses on the students’ class origins and on different cultural practices in three Danish university programmes. It is shown that the Danish university field is characterized by a significant variation in social selectivity from programme to programme, and it is argued that these different social profiles correspond with distinctively different cultural practices in the programmes. Correspondingly, the students have distinctively different strategies towards education and future work life.     

Does social justice count? ‘Lived democracy’ in mathematics classes in diverse Swedish upper secondary programmes

This article analyses what students attending four Swedish upper secondary school programmes with different social class profiles tried and wanted to influence in relation to mathematics teachers’ pedagogic practice and responses during the year 2008/2009. The theoretical framework is based on Bernstein’s theories regarding power and control. The analyses draw on ethnographic observations of classes taking the Natural Science and Social Science academic programmes, and the Vehicle and Child and Recreation vocational programmes, at two Swedish upper secondary schools. Students attending different programmes tried to influence the teaching. However, what the students taking the academic and vocational programmes were able to influence considerably differed. Generally, the vocational students exerted influence more successfully when they wanted to reduce the pace and difficulty of teaching, than when they wished to get more out of their education, while the opposite applied to the academic, especially Natural Science, students. Thus, the power relations reflected the programmes’ social class profiles and the students’ expected positions in society, despite policies at the time to promote democracy and reduce social reproduction in education. The findings support the importance of analysing not only students’ voices, but also their voices in relation to the pedagogic practice they encounter.     

Open to critique: predictive effects of academic outcomes from a bridging/foundation programme on first-year degree-level study

Bridging/foundation programmes are often provided by tertiary institutions to increase equity in access and academic performance of students from under-served communities. Little empirical evidence exists to measure the effectiveness of these bridging/foundation programmes on undergraduate academic outcomes. This research identifies the predictive effect of academic outcomes achieved within a bridging/foundation programme, targeted towards indigenous and ethnic minority students, on first-year degree-level outcomes. Overall performance within the bridging/foundation programme was positively associated with increasing Grade Point Average (GPA), ‘Core 4’ GPA and passing all courses in first year. However, mixed associations were identified between feeder bridging/foundation courses and their intended first year course counterparts. These findings support the continued provision of bridging/foundation education; however, curricular reform within the bridging/foundation programme was required. Key developments included: restructuring course delivery; increasing constructive alignment across the curriculum; increasing cultural content within western science-orientated courses; introduction of cross-curricular assessment and use of additional innovative teaching and learning activities. Additional challenges remain for degree programmes to explore how they can change in order to better support indigenous and ethnic minority student success within first-year tertiary study.     

民族地区教师的文化敏感性与教师培训的重构

民族地区教师的文化敏感性即民族地区教师对学生文化背景和生活经验的感知程度,以及在此基础上采取适切的方式帮助学生实现有意义的学习的能力。当前民族地区教师文化敏感性的缺失,很大原因是由于教师培养和培训中忽视当地文化背景的特殊性。民族地区教师培训要把该地区教师发展的文化属性重新还给教师,使教师的教和学生的学植根于当地学校生活的文化土壤。教师培训的内容应包括:正确的民族文化观和民族教育观,当地学生中主体民族的历史文化和风俗习惯,学生的文化背景对其学习和发展的影响,对课程内容进行文化分析和开发民族文化课程资源的能力。     

加强广西地方院校大学生“多元文化素质”教育的几点思考

广西处在中国—东盟自由贸易区的最前沿,不仅要发展11个世居少数民族的本土文化,而且要面对东盟十国的多元文化。为了确保广西在中国—东盟自贸区中的有利文化地位,抵御文化垃圾和文化帝国主义的侵袭,维护广西本土民族文化安全,我们必须树立科学的文化素质教育观,坚持以生为本,加强广西地方院校大学生多元文化素质教育,增强其民族文化自信心和自豪感,全面提升大学生文化素质和文化自觉意识。     

Mainland Chinese students' group work adaptation in a UK business school

Built from data collected through three-phase in-depth interviews, this study explores from cultural and social perspectives why Chinese students may initially be termed silent participants when they first commence group work with western students; and then examines the impact of cultural interaction through group work on their adjustment. ‘Discourse system’ is used to categorise how they adapt over the course of the year, with changes in expressing opinions, holding ground and self-autonomy. The study suggests that preparation for the new educational system and cultures of learning before students' departure, a facilitative environment in which students have interactive contact with different cultures and tutors' support are essential for Chinese students to achieve a fulfilled learning experience in the UK.     

Crossing the ‘bridges’ and navigating the ‘learning gaps’: Chinese students learning across two systems in a transnational higher education programme

ABSTRACT

Chinese universities are actively pursuing cross-border collaborations in the form of transnational higher education programmes. Our study captures the experiences of Chinese students to illuminate how they navigate their learning journeys in a China-Australia articulation programme. To communicate the complexity of learning in modern transnational higher education programmes, we employed activity theory as the theoretical framework to explore cross-cultural contradictions shaping students’ experiences of learning. Assessment, programme rules, teaching strategies, and class and campus settings created contradictions that students had to negotiate as in-between learning spaces. We argue that cross-system contradictions play important roles in transnational higher education programmes. Therefore, instead of seeking to eliminate these contradictions or smooth cross-educational differences, these contradictions should be leveraged as learning opportunities to enrich transnational higher education programmes.     

China’s international student recruitment as ‘outward-oriented’ higher education internationalisation: an exploratory empirical inquiry

This study investigates China’s international student recruitment strategy and policies as a dimension of its present approach of using higher education internationalisation for soft power and image enhancement. An exploratory survey of international graduate students in English instruction programmes in education-related majors in three Chinese universities has been conducted to analyse their attitudes towards China’s approach. Quantitative analysis has been conducted on the survey data based on Holmes’s four-pattern taxonomy for analysing contextual features, which includes normative patterns, sociological laws, national conditions, and deep cultural roots. Qualitative data have been collected and analysed as a supplement. This study attempts to reveal the relations between international students’ source-country contextual features, identified based on Holmes’s taxonomy, and their attitudes towards China’s approach in international student recruitment. Policy suggestions are provided based on these findings.     

Understanding the Lived Experiences of University Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Phenomenological Study

This study sought to describe factors impacting the success of students with ASD in university programmes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather both the students’ personal perspectives of their university experience and the perspectives of a significant person in their life. An interpretative phenomenological approach was utilised to ascertain common factors that contributed or posed a barrier to students experiencing success in their studies. Findings revealed that students with ASD felt their internal influences of determination, perseverance and passion in their areas of academic interests, greatly impacted on their ability to achieve successful outcomes in university, but these factors were always mitigated by the degree to which they experienced anxiety, depression and isolation. Participants also highlighted the importance of mediating factors in helping them to manage their social–emotional needs so they could pursue their interests and achieve success in university programmes.