Using research to improve literacy practice and practice to improve literacy research

The disconnection between research and practice is not a new phenomenon, but as researchers and educators look toward the future of deaf education, it seems crucial to look back at the reasons behind this disconnection with the goal of creating a professional milieu in which we use research to improve literacy practice and practice to improve literacy research with deaf students. This article examines the issues underlying the relatively insignificant impact of research on literacy practice from the perspectives of the fields of literacy, special education, and deaf education.     

Moving from best practice to next practice: some deliberations on educational leadership

This paper begins from the premise that the challenges characterising the contemporary education environment call for more flexible approaches to leadership than the traditional reliance on codified knowledge. These more flexible approaches are likely to involve new ways of learning, dispositions and behaviours, which enable educational leadership to progress from ‘best practice’ to ‘next practice’. The paper, therefore, has two main aims. First, it seeks to illuminate a potential modus operandi for contending with the complex challenges that have become integral to the landscape of educational leadership. Second, it seeks to encourage consideration of the implications of this modus operandi for processes of leadership thinking, learning and development. For this purpose, the nature of the challenges purported to define the landscape of educational leadership now and into the future is first discussed. This is followed by an examination of three interrelated leadership concepts in enabling appropriate judgements to be made in dealing effectively with highly complex circumstances, namely, ‘phronesis’, ‘contextual intelligence’ and ‘negative capability’. The paper concludes by discussing the circumstances within the professional milieu that either constrain or promote the kind of educational leadership that is deemed to be required for embracing the three concepts in question.     

Looking in the mirror: Teachers' use of autobiography and action research to improve practice

This study presents an argument for valuing subjective, reflective knowledge based on Habermas' category of cognitive interest of emancipatory knowing. Using the teachers' autobiographies and action research as data sources, the process of personal empowerment is explored. A model of change derived from analysis of teachers' writings is proposed that includes disturbance, alternatives, confidence and action.     

Distributed leadership: developing theory from practice

Hopes that the transformation of schools lies with exceptional leaders have proved both unrealistic and unsustainable. The idea of leadership as distributed across multiple people and situations has proven to be a more useful framework for understanding the realities of schools and how they might be improved. However, empirical work on how leadership is distributed within more and less successful schools is rare. This paper presents key concepts related to distributed leadership and illustrates them with an empirical study in a school‐improvement context in which varying success was evident. Grounding the theory in this practice‐context led to the identification of some risks and benefits of distributing leadership and to a challenge of some key concepts presented in earlier theorizing about leadership and its distribution.     

Using drawing in research with children: lessons from practice

Emerging from projects that have involved working with primary school children in school-related research, this article offers suggestions of how drawing as a principal means of data gathering can be either constructive or of little value. The qualitative research projects discussed include investigations of school improvement and consideration of school design, in which freehand drawing was used in different contexts with young people. In many cases, the value of the visual data was high, contributing strongly to the research aims. In some, however, the work contributed little meaningful data to address the research questions. The usefulness of data derived from drawings to the research was assessed by observing factors such as the materials and time available as well as teacher and peer influence. This article discusses those variables and proposes recommendations to improve the likelihood of obtaining quality visual data when working with children.     

An action research study designed to implement student negotiation to improve speaking classroom practice in Turkey

This paper reports the second stage of an action research study designed to improve the effectiveness of speaking classes through negotiating the lesson contents with students. The data were collected through interviews, questionnaires and observations as a way of eliciting students’ views. The research, conducted in an English language teaching department at a university in Turkey, comprised eight weekly-based interventions that involved planning, action, observation, and reflection, in which students were given a voice and classroom activities were designed accordingly. Student negotiation allowed for the identification of both structural and affective factors influencing the quality of speaking classes. The teacher’s roles in activities, the number of students in group work activities, the level of control in speaking activities, and the role of input were found to be issues worth considering in designing speaking classes. Issues such as finding the activity ‘interesting’ and ‘useful’, ‘feeling comfortable’ and ‘being competitive’ also influenced the effectiveness of activities. Involving students in this action research study promoted positive attitudes towards classes since students reported feeling valued and important.     

Portfolio use in educational leadership preparation programs: From theory to practice

Alternative assessment measures, particularly the use of portfolios, which capture authentic student learning are gaining wider acceptance in K-12 school settings. Portfolios have a rich history in higher education, and recently they are becoming a more popular assessment device in colleges of education. Using educational leadership preparation programs as an example, this article examines the use of portfolio assessment by focusing on the relationship between a folio and a portfolio, the possible artifacts and attestations to include in a folio, the structural components of portfolios, and the different uses of portfolios. The implications of incorporating portfolios in leadership preparation programs also are discussed, including how to alleviate the ambiguities and uncertainties faculty and students experience when this form of authentic assessment is utilized.Bruce G. Barnett is an Associate Professor and Director of the Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Northern Colorado. His interests include the preservice and inservice preparation of educational administrators, with particular emphasis in the areas of reflective practice, instructional leadership, and staff development. He has published articles dealing with professional preparation, peer coaching, reflective practice, mentoring, portfolio development, and the moral dilemmas facing educational leaders.     

Using electronic communication to bridge the research to practice gap among mentoring professionals

The field of mentoring includes a broad base of stakeholders, such as researchers and practitioners who implement mentoring programs. The research-to-practice gap is an ongoing area of concern in many fields of social science including mentoring. One reason for this is that researchers and practitioners often operate in isolation. Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in the professional lives of practitioners and researchers, therefore, this study explored the engagement of both groups through the YOUTHMENTORING list serve; a resource provided by the University of Illinois-Chicago. Through a comprehensive qualitative study of list serve content, connections, and engagement it was found that the YOUTHMENTORING list serve promoted collaboration among stakeholders. Members found the resource to be valuable to their practice. Implications for the field and future research are discussed.     

Using action research to enhance learning on end-use energy demand: lessons from reflective practice

This paper responds to the need for a greater integration of energy and environment themes in the higher education curriculum. We explore the practical implications of empowering students towards the implementation of individual action research projects focused on investigating and addressing insufficient or wasteful energy consumption among households and businesses. The paper scrutinizes a series of teaching and assessment activities within this domain, undertaken during 6 consecutive academic years – between 2008 and 2013 – within a third-level undergraduate course unit at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Using questionnaire surveys, assessed projects and interviews with the students, we have found evidence to suggest that the action research projects contributed to the emergence of constructive alignment in the entire teaching process, while opening the space for informal action learning ‘sets’ leading to the generation of new problem-solving skills useful in the job market.     

加强与改进党的建设

在全面建设小康社会的历史进程中,党必须加强自身建设,这是中国共产党顺应时代步伐,永葆先进性的根本要求.加强党的作风建设是重中之重,坚持党要管党与从严治党的方针,坚决克服党内存在的各种消极腐败现象.     

Using principles to help undergraduates learn about leadership

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of action research by ten preservice teachers earning their associate's degree in early childhood education from a small university in the West. Their goal was to assess the impact of their teaching on student learning with children birth to 8 years of age. This study represents the use of undergraduate action research in early childhood at the associate degree level, and also contributes to the early childhood teacher education knowledge base in the use of the action research method in early learning centers as a means of professional development as well as a tool to guide daily instruction, problem solving, and decision making.

Using a variety of informal assessment procedures, the preservice teachers studied the effects of specific learning strategies or activities, first upon the development and learning of the young children they taught, and then upon the results from the assessments in order to guide further instruction.     

Using chaos to improve measurement precision

If the measuring signals were input to the chaotic dynamic system as initial parameters, the system outputs might be in steady state, periodic state or chaos state. If the chaotic dynamic system outputs controlled in the periodic states, the periodic numbers would be changed most with the signals. Our novel method is to add chaotic dynamic vibration to the measurement or sensor system. The sensor sensitivity and precision of a measurement system would be improved with this method. Chaotic dynamics measurement algorithms are given and their sensitivity to parameters are analyzed in this paper. The effects of noises on the system are discussed. Project support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 59805017) and the 863 High-Technology Project of China (No. 863-512-9805-08).