A school‐based project in five kindergartens: the case of teacher development and school development

Kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong are blamed for not putting child‐initiated learning theory into practice. Their competence is challenged. An earlier study (Li, 2003 Li, YL. (2003). Roadblocks to educational reform: investigating knowledge and practice of Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. International Journal of Educational Reform, 12(3): 217–229.  [Google Scholar]) suggested that the professional development of kindergarten teachers was limited by their inability to extend thinking beyond their own personal concerns so that the needs of the children were not the major determinant of their classroom practice. It was argued that to confront and modify the teachers' personal beliefs the presence of models, action research and joint collaborative activity were the keys. This report was a follow‐up study of a school‐based project, providing opportunities for teachers to engage in collaborative investigation of school curriculum and of pedagogical innovations. In this study, the practice and belief of a group of around 60 teachers were tracked during their participation in the project and the merits of peer coaching, mentoring and collaborative teamwork were examined. Classroom observations and semi‐structured interviews (40–60 minutes) were adopted as the main research procedure. Teaching records, videoed teaching episodes and feedback on project workshops were sources of data collected for triangulation. The findings of the study suggest that collegiality holds some promise for change in teachers' practice, though questions concerning the constancy of change are of concern.     

Development of an Instrument Designed to Investigate Elements of Science Students’ Metacognition,Self‐Efficacy and Learning Processes: The SEMLI‐S

The development and evaluation of science students’ metacognition, learning processes and self‐efficacy are important for improving science education. This paper reports on the development of an empirical self‐report instrument for providing a measure of students’ metacognition, self‐efficacy and constructivist science learning processes. A review of the range of literature related to metacognition, self‐regulation and constructivist learning processes resulted in the development of an initial bilingual (English and traditional Chinese) instrument composed of 72 items. This instrument was completed by 465 Hong Kong high school students. The data collected were subjected to exploratory factor analysis and Rasch analysis. The subsequent refinement process resulted in a final version of the Self‐Efficacy and Metacognition Learning Inventory—Science (SEMLI‐S) consisting of 30 items that can be used for either analysing and focusing on any or all of its dimensions or for assigning scores to individuals that enable comparison between them in relation to their metacognitive science learning orientations.     

ICT in Science Education: A quasi‐experimental study of achievement,attitudes toward science,and career aspirations of Korean middle school students

The Seventh School Curriculum Reform in Korea was introduced in 2000 to prepare school‐aged Koreans for an information and knowledge‐based society. The reform effort emphasises information and communication technology (ICT) in the K–12 curriculum and a learner‐centred pedagogy. This study examines the contributions of ICT, specifically, computer‐assisted instruction (CAI), in Korean science classrooms. A sample of 234 Korean middle school students was categorised into five achievement groups. Data were collected from pre‐ and post‐achievement test scores and pre‐ and post‐questionnaires for attitudes toward science, future courses, and career aspirations in science. Findings include: (1) the lowest achievement group showed the most significant improvement after CAI (p=.000); (2) an improvement in student achievement in science significantly influenced students’ attitudes toward science (p=.019), future course selections, and career aspirations related to science (p=.000); and (3) boys tended to perform better with CAI than girls. This research provides evidence that CAI has the potential to help lower achieving students in Korean science classes and may encourage enrolment in science.     

Industriousness and development of the school‐system in the eighteenth century: the experience of Norwegian cities

This article discusses how the Norwegian urban school system was developed during the eighteenth century. In the cities, there were laws for Latin as well as Danish schools. During the eighteenth century, schools for poor children were established, while towards the end of the century the importance of the school system in relation to the economic functioning of society was discussed. A broader range of schools was developed in most cities, meant for children of different social origins and social prospects, and different for boys and girls. The article argues that the school system was used to make the population more industrious during a period when trade capitalism made the social division in society sharper and different forms of organisation of labour were attempted. The attention on children’s education was turned from consideration of the children’s spiritual future to their preparation for a working life that served economic ends.     

Power and the ‘autonomous’ principal: autonomy,teacher development,and school leaders’ work

ABSTRACT

One aspect of instructional leadership is the work principals undertake in supporting and developing teachers’ skills and capabilities. This paper examines this aspect of school leadership within a climate characterised by increased principal workloads, heavy external accountabilities, pressure to improve student results, and heightened autonomy which included discourses regarding principals’ increased freedom in staffing decisions. The case studies within this paper focus specifically on principals’ work in relation to the recruitment and development of staff. Policy and discourse suggests that principals have the autonomy to recruit and build staffing teams to meet school needs and improve outcomes, though questions have been raised about how autonomous public schools can be a part of a wider system. This paper explores the role autonomy plays in leadership practices relating to staff recruitment and development. The findings contribute to a body of knowledge regarding the ways principals make sense of and enact their work under highly pressurised school improvement policy conditions.     

Locus of Control,Self‐Efficacy,and Motivation in Different Schools: Is moderation the key to success?

This study used a novel multidimensional locus of control instrument (I‐SEE) to investigate the relationship between locus of control, motivation, and academic achievement in three different types of school. The strengths of the I‐SEE are that it incorporates the construct of self‐efficacy and that it is embedded in a model of personality and action based on field‐theoretical conceptions. Further, it includes the role of the environment and personality in determining action. The results support a multidimensional conceptualisation of locus of control and the utility of the I‐SEE. There were statistically significant differences between schools for motivation and achievement and also a mediating effect between locus of control and school type, suggesting that interactional models are required in investigations of motivation and achievement. Furthermore, moderate levels of locus of control and self‐efficacy appear to be more adaptive than either extremely high or low levels.     

National Self‐determination and International Dependence: the organisation and control of secondary school examinations in the small states of the Commonwealth

This paper contributes to the literatures on examinations, on self‐determination and dependence, and on small states. It draws particularly on materials for a Commonwealth Secretariat project on examination systems in small states. For the purposes of this paper, small states are defined as ones with populations below 3 million. The Commonwealth has 32 such states, scattered in different parts of the world.

Review of systems for external secondary school examinations shows three basic models. Some small states operate their own examination systems, some participate in regional bodies, and some make use of examinations set in other countries. The paper notes the advantages and disadvantages of each model, and the reasons for variations.     

Change‐of‐career secondary teachers: motivations,expectations and intentions

In New Zealand there is an increasing trend for people with prior occupational experiences to enter secondary teaching. At a time when the media is continually questioning the status and capability of the teaching profession, we explore what or who motivates people to change their occupational paths and enter the teaching profession. Our sample of 68 newly qualified change‐of‐career teachers reported multiple factors related to their decision to pursue teaching. The matrix of reasons involved a range of “push and pull” factors related to previous work and family experiences, values and task expectancies. Three cluster groups of teachers – “Looks Good”, “Time is Right” and “Teaching is Me” – were developed to illustrate the relative influence of different combinations of reasons. We looked at how these teachers' motivations and prior experiences impacted on early and long‐term career expectations and intentions.     

Creativity,Complexity and Self‐similarity: The Vision of the Fractal University

Creativity and communication processes in engineering education have become more and more necessary in highly complex structures such as technological networks and ‘virtual’ reality. These issues also include an educational challenge for university: all education for the future has to be based on experiencing reality. A new socio‐technical approach describes the engineering profession in all aspects beside technology, such as tasks, views, organizational structures or cooperation. Therefore, university and higher education have to change into self‐similar structures to support the learning of complexity in real life. The experiences of the Department of Computer Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Technology in Aachen, as a socio‐technical, self‐similar and creative system, show such learning processes of students (and staff) in undergraduate education, research and organizational structures.     

Student participant‐observation in the contested workplace: the policy dilemmas of in‐school work experience

The study discussed in this paper examines the views on the workplace of year 11 students from an Australian metropolitan post‐primary school before and after they went out of the school into the workplace for two weeks work experience. One of the themes which emerged from the discussions with the students was related to the degree of control exerted by employers on employees and the oppositional response which is sometimes forthcoming from those employees. The views which form this theme are then placed within the context of a current debate on work experience. On the one hand some educationalists are advocating ‘jumping off the work experience bandwagon’, while on the other those scholars with a more critical stance are pointing to the educative potential of work experience.     

The development of strong career learning environments: the project ‘Career Orientation and Guidance’ in Dutch vocational education

Schools are increasingly acknowledging their responsibility to guide students in their career development. However, the guidance that is provided in the Netherlands, as well as in other Western countries, focuses for the most part on helping students towards their academic achievement, and not on helping them to develop competencies to manage their own career. In order to promote this type of career guidance, 37 secondary vocational schools in the Netherlands participated in a project that offered a training programme, aiming to teach teachers how to conduct career dialogues with students. The programme offers expert guidance to integrate a dialogical approach to career guidance and a more enquiry- and practice-based curriculum in the school’s vision and policy. In this article, the results of semi-structured interviews with 50 teachers who participated in the project are presented. These interviews were conducted right after the start of the project, to study how teachers perceive the initial situation regarding career development in their schools, as well as their perception of the initiated plans and ambitions for development, both in their own learning environment and the learning environment of their students.     

White middle‐class parents,identities, educational choice and the urban comprehensive school: dilemmas,ambivalence and moral ambiguity

At a time when the public sector and state education (in the United Kingdom) is under threat from the encroaching marketisation policy and private finance initiatives, our research reveals white middle‐class parents who in spite of having the financial opportunity to turn their backs on the state system are choosing to assert their commitment to the urban state‐run comprehensive school. Our analysis examines the processes of ‘thinking and acting otherwise’, and demonstrates the nature of the commitment the parents make to the local comprehensive school. However, it also shows the parents’ perceptions of the risk involved and their anxieties that these give rise to. The middle‐class parents are thus caught in a web of moral ambiguity, dilemmas and ambivalence, trying to perform ‘the good/ethical self’ while ensuring the ‘best’ for their children.     

Self‐regulation strategies improve self‐discipline in adolescents: benefits of mental contrasting and implementation intentions

Adolescents struggle with setting and striving for goals that require sustained self‐discipline. Research on adults indicates that goal commitment is enhanced by mental contrasting (MC), a strategy involving the cognitive elaboration of a desired future with relevant obstacles of present reality. Implementation intentions (II), which identify the action one will take when a goal‐relevant opportunity arises, represent a strategy shown to increase goal attainment when commitment is high. This study tests the effect of mental contrasting combined with implementation intentions (MCII) on successful goal implementation in adolescents. Sixty‐six 2nd‐year high school students preparing to take a high‐stakes exam in the fall of their third year were randomly assigned to complete either a 30‐minute written mental contrasting with implementation intentions intervention or a placebo control writing exercise. Students in the intervention condition completed more than 60% more practice questions than did students in the control condition. These findings point to the utility of directly teaching to adolescents mental contrasting with implementation intentions as a self‐regulatory strategy of successful goal pursuit.     

Gifted and at risk: Four longitudinal case studies of post‐high‐school development

This study explored the subjective experience of post‐high‐school development in four gifted individuals considered at risk because of significant underachievement, depression, or family stress. Conflict with parents was a dominant theme in the language of three of the subjects, and resolution of that conflict appeared to be associated with developmental task‐accomplishment and improved academic motivation and emotional health. The process of differentiating from parents included exploring identity, finding career direction, and struggling with autonomy issues during extended education. The developmental stories of these individuals, largely in their own words, are situated in one transitional developmental period, and the narratives allude to sexual abuse, sexual orientation, relatively early marriage, or depression.     

The activities of a school‐based teacher educator: a theoretical and empirical exploration

Teacher education all over Europe is increasingly becoming school‐based oriented. This implies new roles for those who support student teachers learning in school. This article describes the way four school‐based teacher educators fulfill their role as educators of student teachers who learn how to teach while participating in the workplace. Based on theoretical notions derived from the literature on teacher education and workplace learning, the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model was specified and used in a case study as a framework to describe the activity of these school‐based teacher educators. They use tools (e.g., apprenticeship assignments) developed within the teacher education institute and rely on their professional knowledge as experienced schoolteachers. This results in student teachers being provided with useful tricks which, however, hardly helps them to interpret and elaborate their experiences from a more conceptual or theoretical perspective. Also the possibilities of the social context of the school as a learning environment are not systematically used.     

Parent–child co‐viewing of television and cognitive development of the Chinese child

This study examined the relationship between parent–child co‐viewing of television and the cognitive development of the child. Both survey and experiment methods were employed to determine the participants’ television viewing habits and their cognitive achievements after watching a pre‐recorded programme under different conditions. The participants were five‐year‐old pre‐schoolers from a childcare centre in Beijing, China. The findings show a positive relationship between parent–child co‐viewing of television and the cognitive performance of the child as far as a specific programme was concerned, but long‐term effects of parent–child co‐viewing on the general cognitive development of the child could not be established owing to the limitations of the study.

Cette étude a examiné le rapport entre la co‐vision de la télévision du parent et l’enfant et le développement cognitif de l’enfant. Des méthodes d’enquête et d’expérience ont été utilisées pour découvrir les habitudes des participants quand ils regardent la télévision et leurs accomplissements cognitifs après avoir regardé un programme pré‐enregistré dans des conditions différentes. Les participants étaient des élèves de cinq ans du cours préparatoire d’un centre d’assistance à l’enfance à Beijing, Chine. Les résultats montrent un rapport positif entre la co‐vision de la télévision duparent et l’enfant et la compétence cognitive de l’enfant en ce qui concerne un programme ­spécifique, mais les effets à long terme de la co‐vision de la télévision du parent et l’enfant sur le développement cognitif général de l’enfant n’ont pas été établi dû aux limitatios de l’étude.

Este estudio examinó la relación entre la co‐visión del padre y niño de la televisión y el desarrollo cognoscitivo del niño. Fueron empleados métodos de estudio y experimentales para descubrir los hábitos relacionados con mirar la televisión de los participantes y sus logros cognoscitivos después de mirar un programa previamente grabado bajo diversas condiciones. Los participantes eran pre‐escolares de cinco años de un centro de cuidado de niños en Beijing, China. Los resultados demuestran una relación positiva entre la co‐visión de la televisión por padre y niño y el funcionamiento cognoscitivo del niño por lo que concierne un programa específico, pero los efectos a largo plazo de la co‐visión del padre y niño en el desarrollo cognoscitivo general del niño no pudieron ser establecidos debido a las limitaciones del estudio.     

Self‐efficacy,school resources,job stressors and burnout among Spanish primary and secondary school teachers: a structural equation approach

This study examines the relationship between school resources, teacher self‐efficacy, potential multi‐level stressors and teacher burnout using structural equation modelling. The causal structure for primary and secondary school teachers was also examined. The sample was composed of 724 primary and secondary Spanish school teachers. The changes occurring in the Spanish teacher role in the last decade were taken into account to select job stressors. The results obtained revealed that external (school support resources) and internal (management classroom self‐efficacy and instructional self‐efficacy) coping resources have a negative and significant effect on job stressors. In turn, job stressors have a positive and significant effect on teachers’ burnout considering it as both a unidimensional and multidimensional construct. Furthermore, the hypothesised structure of burnout dimensions revealed that emotional exhaustion plays a key role in explaining Spanish school teachers’ burnout. Practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

A comparative study of the learning style preferences among gifted African‐American,Mexican‐American,and American‐born Chinese middle grade students

The purpose of this study was to determine whether significant group, gender, and grade differences existed in the preferred learning styles of gifted minority students. The Learning Style Inventory (Dunn, Dunn, & Price, 1987) was administered to 54 African‐American (20 males, 34 females), 61 third‐generation Mexican‐American (26 males, 35 females), and 40 third‐generation American‐born Chinese (25 males, 15 females) students. A three‐way analysis of variance on the LSI raw scores of gifted African‐American, Mexican‐American, and American‐born Chinese students indicated significant group differences in preferences for noise, light, visual modality, studying in the afternoon, and persistence. Significant gender differences were found in preferences for the tactile modality and intake. Finally, significant grade differences were found in preferences for temperature (warm/cool environment) and mobility. Findings support and extend past research regarding the learning styles of gifted students.     

Zafar,so good: middle‐class students,school habitus and secondary schooling in the city of Buenos Aires (Argentina)

This article examines how students from the ‘loser’ sections of the middle class dealt with the game of secondary schooling in a ‘good’ state school in the city of Buenos Aires (Argentina). It engages with Bourdieu’s theory of social practice and, in particular, with its concepts of game, habitus and cultural capital. It argues that middle‐class students embody a school habitus, which I call zafar. Zafar (a Spanish slang word) refers to students’ dispositions, practices and strategies towards social and educational demands of teachers and their school. Zafar propels middle‐class students to be just ‘good enough’ students, and promote an instrumental approach to schooling and learning. Although this paper offers an account within which the reproduction of relative educational advantage of a group of middle‐class students takes place, it also poses questions about their future educational and occupational opportunities.     

Learner‐centered leadership: a mentoring model for the professional development of school administrators

The Learner‐Centered Leadership program is a new initiative that provides professional development opportunities to school administrators through a mentoring model. The focus on learner‐centered leadership reflects renewed attention to the primary role of teaching and learning in the development of school leadership expertise. With a focus on learning, the need to create collaborative structures where trust, respect and communication are promoted among the participants has been critical. In its first year, the project goal has been to develop the capacity for mentoring across districts. To create this capacity, the project has focused on building relationships among participants using a threefold process: formal workshops that introduce the districts and participants; informal gatherings that break down barriers and establish opportunities for networking; and a series of problem‐solving initiatives called a team challenge that require participants work together, communicate and cooperate to solve the challenging activities.