Teaching teachers to teach ICT integration—T3

Based upon a nation wide campaign called Public Private Partnership—Schools in the Net (PPP-SiN) (Public Private Partnership—Schule im Netz (PPP-SiN), 2000) we were able to initiate an externally financed project of in-service teacher education. The paper describes the realization of this project. Reflections are given on why teachers hesitate to integrate ICT into their teaching. Media competencies are recognized to be key in this context. We reflect upon the following five questions:

1. How do we educate the right thing as well as educate the right way?
2. Which ambient conditions must be met?
3. Which preliminary actions have to be taken and implemented?
4. Which tools, methods and instruments do we need?
5. How do we make sure that the transfer of learned knowledge will take place to find its way into successful teaching?

     

School counseling in Israel. Issues and developments

This study investigated how Israeli teacher-counselors view their actual performance and what it is that teacher-counselors themselves feel should be their ideal roles. Counseling services were introduced into the educational system in Israel in 1960. Due to the fact that there was an urgent need to help students in their vocational plans and with their learning difficulties (Klingman and Ajzen, 1978), supervisors in The Ministry of Education suggested that teachers who have at least three years of teaching experience start a two year in-service training program in order to prepare them as specialists in helping pupils in the elementary schools plan for their future. A second objective was to help exceptional children with their learning problems. These goals caused the teacher with two years of special training to add a new role to his/her educational and teaching role. This dual role has been called ‘Teacher-counselor.’ In 1960, thirty four teacher-counselors started their work in different schools in Israel. Their major work was concentrated on disadvantaged children and with 7th and 8th graders helping them with their learning difficulties. To prevent overlapping with other helping professions and confusion concerning this new profession, a follow up study was conducted by Malinovski and Malinovski (1964) in order to define the role of the teacher-counselor. They have defined it to include eight activities which teacher-counselors were found to be involved with:

1. Help students adjust to school and community.
2. Help students reach self-understanding.
3. Provide information needed for vocational plans.
4. Help students understand their interests, values, and aptitudes.
5. Help students in human relationships.
6. To be a consultant for teachers and other professional workers.
7. Help parents in decision making concerning vocational plans for their children, and assist them in coping with behavioral problems.
8. Referral to special institutions when needed.

Since its origins in 1960, school counseling in Israel has been developed rapidly. This is reflected especially in the increasing number of teacher-counselors (43 teacher-counselors in 1964 to 800 teacher-counselors in 1976 and to 1366 teacher-counselors in 1981). Teacher-counselors now work not only in the Ministry of Education but also in the Ministry of Labor providing vocational services to teenagers who dropped out of school and who are encouraged to work and learn at the same time. As mentioned earlier, originally teacher-counselors were certified teachers who were selected after three years of experience in teaching and then they participated in a two-year program of in service training to become teacher-counselors. This state of affairs did remain for long. Soon after the introduction of the counseling services, universities responded to the newly created need and developed academic programs (for B.A. and then M.A. degrees) in counseling education. This evolution in training programs took place in the mid 1960's and brought a new sense of professionalism to the field of counseling. Until the mid seventies, universities limited admissions to counselor training to only those candidates who were already certified teachers with at least three years of experience. Currently, admission is not limited to teachers only but includes ‘fresh’ in-experienced students who can be admitted when they qualify on two criteria: Academic achievement and personality variables. The latter development has two significant meanings. First, the quality of students has become higher as they are selected from a larger population. Second, it is well known in Israel that for the teaching profession there exists what is called in Israel ‘negative selection: the less able go to teacher training seminaries to become teachers. Thus, by limiting admission to programs of training counselors only to graduates of these seminaries, the educational system's weaknesses were perpetuated. By widening the range of potential candidates not only has the quality of students and departments greatly improved, but also the educational system has gained much from these highly able counselors even though they are less experienced.     

Career Guidance in Further,Higher and Continuing Education: — Expectations,programmes, training

This is a report on three working groups of the IRTAC European Consultation ‘Career Guidance in Further, Higher and Continuing Education’, University of London, December 16–20, 1983. The three working groups focused their discussion on the following themes:

- The expectations of those contemplating further and/or higher education.

- The selection and training of the career guidance team.

- The design, implementation and evaluation of career guidance programmes.

     

Implementing the 1981 Education Act

This article examines factors affecting the development and implementation of Education Policy with special reference to the 1981 Education Act for England and Wales. Research is reported about professional practice and administrative behaviour in special education assessment. Six professional and administrative factors are identified which may affect the implementation of the new special education legislation:

1. The nature of the professional domain of special education assessment;
2. The emergence of competing definitions of special educational need and good practice;
3. The concern for professional and administrative accountability;
4. The concern for the rights of users of special education provision;
5. The politicisation of special education through the development of interest groups;
6. The market relations between supply and demand in special education provision.

     

A plan for the development of a conceptually-based mathematics curriculum for disadvantaged children I: Theoretical foundations

The purpose of this two-part article is to point the way towards more sophisticated educational technologies with specific reference to educating the disadvantaged. In Part I, after summarizing some of the current problems in educating the disadvantaged, a new theory of structural learning is proposed and relationships between this theory, educational technology, and curriculum development are made explicit. This conceptual framework then is used as a basis for planning curriculum development in education. Part II shows in more detail how this plan may be applied in the real world with special reference to three specific projects:

1. An efficient and self-instructional way to diagnose and teach the basic arithmetical skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
2. A systematic way of teaching children how to read critically based on a behavioral analysis of the process in terms of logical reasoning.
3. A plan for in-service teacher education which deals with mathematical processes (as opposed to content).

     

Analysis of problem solving strategies on electricity problems in 12 to 13 year olds

Strategies implemented by 12–13 year olds to solve electricity problems are examined. Three factors account for observed strategies:

1. type of problem representation, itself dependent on the knowledge base;
2. cognitive personality dimensions;
3. form of problem statement.

Individual interviews were conducted. Each problem statement contained a perceptual ‘trap’ designed to induce contradictory responses. Strategies were coded for accuracy, latency, justification and control. Five types of problem solving strategies were observed:

1. a strategy based on misconceptions such as the vanishing current model;
2. a similar strategy but greater verbalization of doubt;
3. rush to use formulas;
4. sequential analysis of circuit;
5. application of principles learned in class.

Analysis shows that the target problems fell into two classes: problems that triggered automatic (canonical or calculatory) responses, and problems which were much more disruptive. The latter differentiated students who could handle contradictions and control their responses. Mention is also made of difficulties caused by the signified/signifier relationship.     

All welcome! Everyone belongs!: Leadership from voices seldom heard

Two basic points are made in this article:

-We must make a choice whether we ‘isolate’ people from or ‘include’ people in our communities. Including people is the only viable option.

-The key to ‘including’ people is with the very people we most often label as ‘the problems’. These ‘problem people’ can help generate answers when we learn how to listen, and when we offer genuine learning opportunities and valid partnerships with those who have been ‘missed’ and discarded.

Examples from various Frontier College programs illustrate these points and elaborate the central philosophy of the College (Student Centred Individualized Learning — SCIL), which is based on the beliefs that:

-All are welcome

-All belong

-All can learn

-All have contributions to make

The programmes are focused on ‘literacy’, which is a great deal more than reading and writing — it is about what kind of society we want. Literacy is a tool for ‘inclusion’ in communities. It is hard work, and includes love and tears, grief and joy, families and friends. It is based on the Right to Learn, and builds dignity, self esteem and choices.     

Contexts for writing,writing in context

The role of context variables is emphasized in recent research on writing, from which a great variety of meanings of the word ‘context’ emerges. The aim of this paper is to investigate some aspects of the identification of context variables in writing research by focusing on three main functions of context:

1. context as a condition for communication, i.e. the ground the writer creates in order to communicate with the reader
2. context as task environment, i.e. the situational variables (task objectives, motivational aspects, media, etc.) which can influence the writing process and/or product
3. context as an interactive framework, i.e. context as constituted by what people are doing, as well as by when and where they are doing it.

     

Résolution de problèmes de division au cycle elementaire dans deux types de situations didactiques

This study deals with the observation of a class composed of children aged 8–9 solving division problems. The analysis aims at differentiating the attitudes of pupils confronted with situations resulting from ‘EMPIRICAL’ learning from those observed in situations involving action resulting from ‘DIALECTIC’ learning. Two learning sequences are described in the course of the study:

* The first includes four classical terms which allow the use of empirical methods to find the quotient and the remainder.

* The second includes two terms elaborated so that they favour a dialectic of action with the children.

The observed differences reveal that:

* The repetition of drills of the same nature during the first learning sequence does not result in important variations as far as success and solution procedures are concerned.

* On the other hand, during the second learning sequence, all pupils use a more economical solution procedure with high level success rate.

     

References of speech acts as characteristics of mathematical classroom conversation

In the article three parts of classroom conversation are studied with respect to the linguistic interference between teacher and pupils. Special attention is given to the reference of words and symbols of teacher and pupils. Some conclusions are:

- In classroom conversation we may consider the references of speech act as one of the basic features of learning.

- For succesful transfer of references between teacher and pupil, it is necessary that they are handling the same referential frameworks. Those frameworks are very fundamental in every day speech (‘form’ and ‘color’).

- Differences in references between teacher and pupils may lead to blockages in the learning. Sometimes they result in learning that is an imitation of teacher behaviour.

- To avoid these unwanted effects of learning, the teacher has to ensure that learning takes place within the everyday language of the pupils. So he will have to stimulate the pupils to explicate by themselves what they perceive and what they think.

     

Children’s writing of argumentative texts: Effects of indirect instruction

This study reports on grade 4 children’s (Ss) knowledge of constraints and characteristics of persuasive written requests (RQ).

1. All Ss wrote a first RQ asking money to improve their computer lab.
2. Experimental (E) and control (C) Ss evaluated 4 different RQ.
3. selected and ordered, out of 30 scrambled sentences, those appropriate for a “good” RQ.
4. A week later, E Ss had a collective “training discussion” on requests.
5. A week later, E and C Ss wrote a second RQ asking money for their science lab.

Results pertaining to different aspects of the produced RQ showed that the training did have some effects but both groups improved in their II RQ. The results were interpreted as suggesting that both groups actually learned what an appropriate request is by carefully evaluating the 4 requests and by constructing a request from a sentence list.     

The preference of Asian overseas students for the United States: An examination of the context

Asian students in increasing numbers have over the postwar period decided to go overseas for tertiary education, and an increasing proportion of those overseas students have selected the United States as their place of study. Eight elements of the changing context of Asian-American relations are identified which influence the Asian preference for American higher education:

1. The improving Asian-American political links
2. The increased volume of Asian-American economic exchange
3. The sharp increase in Asian immigration to the United States
4. The increasing similarity in the structure and content of Asian and American educational systems
5. The absorptive capacity of American higher education
6. The quality of American higher education
7. The complementarity of Asian demand and American supply
8. The opportunities provided in American higher education to cover educational costs through part-time work

     

Academic effectiveness of private,public and private–public partnership schools in Pakistan

In recent years, there has been major growth in low-cost or affordable private schooling in South Asia. This has applied in both urban and rural areas. In Pakistan, some 25%–33% of all children now attend private schools. Further, there has been substantial, consistent, developing country evidence that students of affordable private schools outperform academically their counterparts in government schools. This seems to remain true even after account is taken of intellectual ability, home and family characteristics.In this paper we use 2011 data collected by Pakistan's Annual Status of Education Report (ASER, 2012) to address three questions:

• (a)Do Pakistan's rural private school students outperform their public school counterparts?
• (b)Do Pakistan's public–private partnership (PPP) school students outperform their public school counterparts?
• (c)Are higher private school fees associated with higher student achievement?

Our results show that:

• •private school students in Pakistan, do outperform their government colleagues. This effect persists even after account is taken of other variables (child, household and school).
• •PPP students also outperform their government counterparts but this effect disappears when account is taken of private tuition.
• •students from the lowest-fee private schools outperform students from government schools and higher fee school students generally outperform the lowest fee schools but this latter difference seems attributable to factors other than solely the higher fee level itself.

     

Case study of a TeaM challenge game—e-PBL revisited

Today’s societies place challenging demands on individuals, who are confronted with complexity in many parts of their lives. What do these demands imply for key competencies that individuals need to acquire? Defining such competencies can improve assessments of how well prepared young people and adults are for life’s challenges, as well as identify overarching goals for education systems and lifelong learning. Why are competencies so important today? The PISA 2000 results underline the importance of student engagement. PISA found strong relationships between students’ attitudes, learning strategies and performance. In addition to skills related to specific parts of the school curriculum, students need to be equipped with some general competencies to solve life’s challenges. As they progress to adulthood, they need to learn to be able to complete not just pre-rehearsed exercises, but must also be able to solve problems set in unfamiliar situations by thinking flexibly and pragmatically. PISA 2003 therefore made a first-time assessment of students’ problem-solving skills. Findings revealed that just under one in five 15-year-olds in OECD countries are ‘reflective, communicative problem solvers’ able to tackle difficult tasks and also just under one in five students have problem-solving skills that cannot even be classified as ‘basic problem solvers’. What could be the basic problem and what resolution can be sought for? There are several examples in learning theory that suggests promises which need to be revisited. Barr and Tagg [From teaching to learning. Change. November/December pp. 13–25. Retrieved June 15, 2006 from http://critical.tamucc.edu/~blalock/readings/tch2learn.htm, 1995] defined the differences of paradigms in terms of learning theory comparing the notions of ‘teaching’ and that of ‘learning’, obviously expressing preferences to the later for its more in-depth effect on the learner. One of the main learner-centric approaches providing adequate positive results is problem based learning (PBL). This paper revisits the pedagogic theory behind PBL and examines it through a practical case study of a TeaM challenge game [TeaM challenge games: http://kihivas.ini.hu] with respect to its value in teacher education. It will concentrate on issues centred around:

• Traces of use of higher order thinking skills—according to Bloom’s taxonomy.
• Pedagogic pre-assumptions (designer’s side): requirements for design and supposed impact of students and teachers.
• Assignment within teacher training (training side): as the task of setting up such game is performed within Informatics teacher training at ELTE University and games were launched into public education.
• Pedagogic realities (facilitator’s side): how the teachers at a specific participant school viewed their role, the game, its impact and pedagogic value, its role in fulfilling the National Curriculum and its benefit for students.
• Indirect impact (staff’s side): how the game has affected the whole staff at school and what impact it had of the attitude of teachers.
• Results (evaluator’s side): how the game was evaluated in several ways and what new methods it has introduced into public education.

     

Some aspects of children's ability to solve mathematical problems

This survey presents the essentials of a study concerning problem solving ability in children aged 12–13. It forms part of a large project concerning the impact of calculators and computers in school mathematics and the consequences for certain basic abilities. The contents of the survey are in brief:

? definition of problem solving ability;

? test construction;

? interviews;

? supplementary investigations.

     

Some reflections on the link between education and employment

The ILO's World Employment Programme, launched officially in 1969, constitutes the major contribution of the International Labour Organisation to the Second Development Decade in the area of employment objectives and policies. The general aim of the World Employment Programme (WEP) is to provide concrete and specific guidelines to policy-makers and planners on policies and measures which enable them to choose those development strategies which have a greater weight attached to productive employment creation, and to assist in their implementation. The following activities have recently been undertaken to give practical effect to the World Employment Programme. First, so-called comprehensive employment strategy missions have been sent to Colombia, Ceylon, Iran and Kenya (ILO, 1970, 1971, 1972a, 1972b). In the light of a definition and diagnosis of the employment problem in these countries, these missions have proposed a long-term strategy based on fundamental changes in key areas of development policy, including education and training. They have also drawn up an immediate programme of action to face the most urgent problems. Second, regional teams have been established in Latin America and Asia, and several subregional teams are in the process of being constituted in Africa. Set up with a view to making a comprehensive investigation of employment problems in the countries of the region and assisting them in formulating employment policies and programmes, they are keeping under review the progress and obstacles encountered and identifying needs for further direct assistance. Third, a major research programme has been launched. The principal elements of the WEP's research programme are the following major projects which are currently being carried out or are about to start:

1. population and employment;
2. technology and employment;
3. income distribution and employment;
4. education and employment;
5. international trade and employment;
6. urban employment problems; and
7. feasibility of emergency employment schemes.

This article gives a brief account of the insights already gained and the work under way in the area of education and employment.     

Structure des acquisitions relatives á la maîtrise de la langue française en fin de cours moyen. Analyse des données d’une enquête

A survey commissioned by the French Ministry of Education on mastery of the French language by the end of the elementary grades (11–12 years) was conducted on a sample of 4585 students. The data was used to compare the results obtained on tests of written French designed to measure level of acquisition with ministerial guideline objectives. Three types of analysis were performed, to attempt to define:

1. a pattern of results between grammatical exercises
2. a pattern of results between exercises about use of the French language in context
3. the relationships between grammatical acquisitions and use of language in context.

Two issues arise from this analysis: first, the problem of the relationships between the way the elementary school student analyses language through intuitive understanding of meaning vs rules of formal analysis; and second, the problem of transfer mechanisms which allow information learned in one language situation to be applied to new situations.     

Numeration a l'ecole elementaire

This paper presents results of research concerning the construction of the concept of natural integers by children. By testing the same children, whose school history was known with accuracy, at one year in tervals, we have sought to determine:

— How their competence in counting and numeration evolved during this period.

— What the mechanisms of this evolution were.

— What role school learning played.

     

Predicting faculty success in university graduate departments

This study tests a model of predicting faculty success in the different fields of chemistry, physics, sociology, and political science. The main hypotheses tested and confirmed are:

1. In a field with a low technological development, professional age is more important in predicting faculty success than in a field with a high technological development.
2. In a field with a high technological development, articles are more important in predicting faculty success than in a field with a low technological development.
3. In a field with a low technological development, books are more important in predicting faculty success than in a field with a high technological development.

These hypotheses are tested separately for the tenured and the nontenured faculty groups. The policy implications of this model in regard to the management of graduate departments have been discussed and explored.     

‘You Have to Give Them Some Science Facts’: Primary Student Teachers’ Early Negotiations of Teacher Identities in the Intersections of Discourses About Science Teaching and About Primary Teaching

In the broadest sense, the goal for primary science teacher education could be described as preparing these teachers to teach for scientific literacy. Our starting point is that making such science teaching accessible and desirable for future primary science teachers is dependent not only on their science knowledge and self-confidence, but also on a whole range of interrelated sociocultural factors. This paper aims to explore how intersections between different Discourses about primary teaching and about science teaching are evidenced in primary school student teachers’ talk about becoming teachers. The study is founded in a conceptualisation of learning as a process of social participation. The conceptual framework is crafted around two key concepts: Discourse (Gee 2005) and identity (Paechter, Women’s Studies International Forum, 26(1):69–77, 2007). Empirically, the paper utilises semi-structured interviews with 11 primary student teachers enrolled in a 1-year Postgraduate Certificate of Education course. The analysis draws on five previously identified teacher Discourses: ‘Teaching science through inquiry’, ‘Traditional science teacher’, ‘Traditional primary teacher’, ‘Teacher as classroom authority’, and ‘Primary teacher as a role model’ (Danielsson and Warwick, International Journal of Science Education, 2013). It explores how the student teachers, at an early stage in their course, are starting to intersect these Discourses to negotiate their emerging identities as primary science teachers.