Teacher competency testing: what teachers of students with LD need to know

In 1964, North Carolina became the first state to enact a testing program for initial certification of teachers. Today, almost all states and the District of Columbia are actively planning or implementing teacher testing programs; six are administering tests in the specific area of learning disabilities. The objectives and content areas of knowledge included in competency testing programs within this specialized area of teacher competence were analyzed, and comparisons were completed across knowledge areas and among states. In general, much similarity exists in what teachers of students with learning disabilities in different states are expected to know. This information represents a strong foundation for planning, implementing, and evaluating training programs for all teachers.     

Indigenous learners: what university educators need to know

Abstract

Canadian citizens of Indigenous ancestry have statistically lower than national averages with respect to secondary and postsecondary completion rates. In an attempt to understand and assist Indigenous university students in Ontario, the purpose of the study was to identify teaching and learning strategies and support systems for Indigenous students that will result in increased academic success and retention among Indigenous youth and adults attending university. The results were summarised in an introductory handbook for faculty and staff at Nipissing University, a destination of choice for many Indigenous students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. The specific purpose of the handbook was to provide an introduction to the diversity of cultures and their related perspectives amongst our Indigenous students. The literature and the results provide specific pathways for educators to begin to decolonise their pedagogy to support success for Indigenous university learners.     

Teacher competency testing: what are special education teachers expected to know?

Teacher competency testing (TCT) is a current manifestation of education reform; 48 of the 50 states are actively planning or implementing teacher testing programs, and 25 (plus the District of Columbia) are developing or administering tests in specific subject areas to include special education. This article presents the results of a nationwide survey that addressed TCT in special education. Responses were collected from 46 states and the District of Columbia. Analyses of results revealed that states vary in their use of teacher competency tests and that specific special education teacher competency tests are used or being actively studied in about half the states. Implications for the practice of special education are provided.     

English in classrooms: only write down what you need to know: annotation for what?

The annotation of texts in the school English classroom is central to the curriculum, examination and the history of English as a school subject. In this paper we explore ‘the way it is done’ across two different classrooms. We focus on the relationship between official definitions of annotation offered by national policies and examination syllabuses and its actualization in particular classrooms. The article takes a multimodal approach: attending to all modes of representation and communication in the teaching of English including image, gesture, gaze and the spatial organization of the classroom.     

Mentoring beginning teachers: What we know and what we don't

This article reports the findings of a review of the international research literature on mentoring beginning teachers. Research identifies a range of potential benefits and costs associated with mentoring, and suggests that the key to maximising the former and minimising the latter lies in the realization of a number of conditions for successful mentoring, such as the effective selection and preparation of mentors. We also highlight a number of limitations in the current evidence base on beginner teacher mentoring. Some implications, for the practice of teacher educators, for policy-makers and for future research, are considered.     

What teachers need to know about the struggle for self-determination (conscientization) and self-regulation: adults with disabilities speak about their education experiences

The purpose of this paper is to help teachers better understand the struggles that people with disabilities experience in attaining their educational goals and to encourage the development of teaching and learning strategies that help to respect and facilitate the struggle itself. The authors share the generative themes that emerged using a critical pedagogy approach (dialogic interviews) to elicit the voices of adults with disabilities speaking about their public school experiences. In discussing the implications for teachers, the authors show the intersections of educational psychology's concept self-regulation and critical pedagogy's concept conscientization and special education’ s concept self-determination. Why the ‘struggle’ itself is important (from the perspectives provided by conscientization, self-regulation, and self determination) is discussed.The major question is whether or not teachers can structure the awareness process that results in learners becoming aware enough to verbalize, “I have difficulties”. What do teachers do to stimulate the metacognitive thinking processes that makes it possible for students with disabilities to think, “I can monitor myself!”? How can teachers capture the power of the conscientization experience that leads students with disabilities to experience the generative will power “to use the powers that I have to make a difference in my life's situation?” How do adults with disabilities come to these kinds of awareness and how can teachers help facilitate the awareness?     

你需要了解的三大趋势

未来10年,三大趋势即将席卷全球,只要你是地球人,都无法置身事外。趋势一:世界愈来愈绿。2009年12月,全球192个国家的代表齐聚丹麦首都哥本哈根,签订新的全球环境公约。在2020年前减碳25%至40%的配额压力下,节能减碳将变成各国政府最重要的目标,绿计算机、绿手机、绿建筑……     

Lamaze breathing: what every pregnant woman needs to know

Lamaze breathing historically is considered the hallmark of Lamaze preparation for childbirth. This column discusses breathing in the larger context of contemporary Lamaze. Controlled breathing enhances relaxation and decreases perception of pain. It is one of many comfort strategies taught in Lamaze classes. In restricted birthing environments, breathing may be the only nonpharmacological comfort strategy available to women. Conscious breathing and relaxation, especially in combination with a wide variety of comfort strategies, can help women avoid unnecessary medical intervention and have a safe, healthy birth.     

What teachers come to know through school portfolio development

This article distills what teachers at six diverse, urban schools came to know as a consequence of engaging in school portfolio development from a teacher knowledge perspective. Grounded in a narrative method and form, the work highlights the asking of hard questions, the concept of powerful learning, the idea of high quality professional development, the layered nature of knowledge, the aesthetic qualities of knowing and the limitations of what reflective school portfolios can and cannot do.     

Mature adult learners and the need to know

Sterns and Mitchell (in H. L. Sterns, et al., Gerontology in higher education: Developing Institutional and Community Strength. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1979) point out that Maslow's concept of the need to know is as basic a need as the physical, security, and belongingness needs. And so, mature (25–55 years) and older (55 years and above) adult learning has flourished within the community: in museums, libraries, churches, in trade unions, business and industry, in evening programs emphasizing self-enrichment and vocational advancement, in a range of postsecondary noncollegiate, occupational, and adult education programs. Higher education and its academic disciplines, in contrast, have notably been age segmented and youth oriented. This paper outlines four major sociocultural changes which at once challenge higher education's youth orientation while simultaneously offering educational psychology opportunities for significant research, teaching, and service, for fertile dialectic within the higher education communities, and for wider support of the adult's need to know.     

Peer inquiry: Discovering what you know through dialogue

The article discusses a dialogical peer inquiry process as a practice of co-constructing knowledge in graduate coursework. The process, formerly structured as an exam, was developed by Dr. Vera John-Steiner more than 30 years ago and has been implemented in adapted forms by her students in their teaching. The dialogical peer inquiry process involves collaborating creatively with peers in the co-construction of knowledge. The article discusses the underpinnings of the process and uses voices of students in a graduate art education course to illuminate the process and its meanings for students.