Learning‐to‐learn and learning‐to‐teach: the impact of disciplinary subject study on student‐teachers’ professional identity

A coherent view of student‐teachers’ preparation and the learning experiences to which they are exposed are key to sustaining the relevance of university‐based teacher‐education programmes. Arguably, such coherence is lacking and the research base to an understanding of the student‐teacher experience is still a relatively limited one. This paper takes the view that student‐teachers’ epistemological growth is a key component of their professional development, their sense of identity as intending teachers, and their successful entry into a teaching career. In adopting a phenomenographic approach it explores a chain of evidence which demonstrates that immersion in the processes of learning and knowing, within a specific disciplinary context, had a significant impact on students’ emerging professional identities and on their values as teachers which extends beyond the subject matter itself. Arguably, the findings of this case‐study hold important implications for a teacher‐education programme and for effective pedagogic practice.     

Teacher‐mentor to Teacher‐researcher

This paper focuses on the Primary PGCE at Keele University, which is now in its third year of a new course structure, fulfilling the requirements of the DFE circular 14/93. As the school‐based partnership has developed, teacher‐mentors have gained new understanding of both their role in teacher training and their relationship with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This paper seeks to outline how the process of mentoring has developed teachers’ skills in a way which has promoted their understanding of, and interest in, school‐based research. Four key issues are explored in probing the link between mentoring and school‐based research: the difference between theory and practice; links between teacher‐mentors and HEI tutors, the process of reflective practice; teachers as knowledge constructors. These are examined in relation to the process of mentoring and to the way in which each contributes to developing mentors’ participation and interest in school‐based research.     

Face‐to‐face with children

This paper investigates the motivational power of children to change teachers' beliefs about teaching. Weekly and summary reflections written by 18 preservice teachers served as data sources. Preservice teachers were learning from the children what they expect their teachers to know, to do, and to be, and in consequence of the face‐to‐face encounters with children, teachers were likely to establish and change their beliefs about children and how to teach. Teacher educators may encourage this learning by asking preservice teachers, during and after their work in classrooms, to respond to the questions: ‘As I related to the children, what did they require from me?’, and ‘How did I respond to these demands?’. The work of Emmanuel Levinas on the relationship in the face‐to‐face encounter between people provided an interpretive framework for evaluating responses to these questions.     

Development of a sex education programme for 12‐year‐old to 14‐year‐old Turkish adolescents

Previous research has documented a need for the development of a sex education programme in Turkish schools in terms of adolescence readiness and the presence of misconceptions regarding critical aspects of sexual issues. Currently no school‐based sex education is available for Turkish adolescents. This paper presents the development of a contemporary sex education programme for 12‐year‐old to 14‐year‐old adolescents, entitled ‘The Human Development Program for 12–14 Year Old Adolescents’. A five‐step programme development model was used including reviewing internationally recognised sex education programmes for this age group. Sexuality Information and Education Council of United States guidelines were chosen as an educational framework, and Turkish cultural values were integrated into the curriculum. The sex curriculum consists of an eight‐session interactive programme in which parental permission and involvement is required. Five units are presented: human development, relationships, sexual behaviour, sexual health, and society/culture. The programme and a related knowledge assessment tool were reviewed by a group of Turkish professionals and the validity of the educational content was received. The programme was piloted with a group of Turkish adolescents with positive results. Future recommendations include school counsellors implementing this sex educational programme into Turkish schools.     

Contribution of Meta‐strategic Knowledge to Scientific Inquiry Learning

The aim of the present study is to explore the effects of Meta‐strategic Knowledge (MSK) on scientific inquiry learning. MSK is a subcomponent of metacognition defined as general, explicit knowledge about thinking strategies. Following earlier studies that showed considerable effects of explicit instruction of MSK regarding the strategy of variables control, the present study explores whether similar effects are found in two additional scientific thinking strategies: Define Research Questions and Formulate Research Hypotheses. Participants were 119 eighth‐grade students from six classes of a heterogeneous school. Equal numbers of low‐achieving and high‐achieving students were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The findings showed dramatic developments in students’ performance following instruction. The effect of the treatment was preserved in a delayed transfer test. Our findings show that explicit teaching of MSK had a stronger effect for low‐achieving students than for high‐achieving students. The implications of the findings for teaching and learning in the context of scientific inquiry are discussed.     

Spur‐of‐the‐moment speeches

This study investigated the degree to which applicants' perceptions of interview behaviors differed from interviewers' perceptions. Data were drawn from 188 actual employment interviews conducted under the auspices of a university‐operated placement center. Data analyses revealed applicants rating themselves and the interviewers significantly higher than the interviewers' ratings of either themselves or the applicants.     

Development and Validation of Instruments to Measure Learning of Expert‐Like Thinking

This paper describes the process for creating and validating an assessment test that measures the effectiveness of instruction by probing how well that instruction causes students in a class to think like experts about specific areas of science. The design principles and process are laid out and it is shown how these align with professional standards that have been established for educational and psychological testing and the elements of assessment called for in a recent National Research Council study on assessment. The importance of student interviews for creating and validating the test is emphasized, and the appropriate interview procedures are presented. The relevance and use of standard psychometric statistical tests are discussed. Additionally, techniques for effective test administration are presented.     

Student‐reported differences in technology use and skills after the implementation of one‐to‐one computing

This two‐year, mixed methods study with surveys, observations, and interviews, documented student technology use and skill before and after the implementation of a new one‐to‐one tablet computing program at a private middle school in the United States. After one year with tablets, several differences in students' technology use and skill were documented, including: higher satisfaction with school technology, greater frequency of technology use in specific subjects such as math and science, greater frequency of certain classroom activities such as two‐way communicating, and greater technology skills on competencies such as editing collaborative wikis. New modes of student collaboration were evident after implementing the tablet program, including sharing notes and co‐editing wikis. Differences were inconsistent across grade levels and subjects, suggesting teachers are adopting the tablet innovation differentially. In general, technology use increased most in math, science, and social studies classrooms, with smaller increases in language arts and foreign language classrooms.

Différences d'usages et de compétences technologiques rapportées par les élèves après la mise en place de programmes informatiques individualisés

La présente étude fondée sur un mélange de méthodes a duré deux années avec des enquêtes, des observations et des entretiens; elle a relevé les usages et les compétences des élèves avant et après la mise en place d'un nouveau programme d'informatique individualisée avec des ordinateurs “tablet” dans une école secondaire privée, aux Etats Unis. Après une année d'usage des “tablets”, on a noté chez les élèves plusieurs différences d'utilisation et de savoir‐faire comme par exemple: un niveau de satisfaction plus élevé par rapport à la technologie de l'établissement, une plus grande fréquence dans l'usage de la technologie pour des matières spécifiques telles que les maths et les sciences, une plus grande fréquence dans certaines activités de classe telles que la communication à double sens, et un plus grand savoir‐faire technologique pour des compétences telles que la mise en forme de wikis collaboratifs. De nouveaux modes de collaboration entre élèves sont apparus clairement après la mise en place du programme “tablet” y compris le partage de notes et la co‐édition de wikis. Il n'y avait pas de cohérence dans les différences d'une classe et d'une matière à l'autre ce qui permet de penser que les enseignants adoptent l'innovation des “tablets” de façon différenciée. En général, l'usage de la technologie a le plus augmenté dans les classes de maths, de sciences et de sciences sociales, l'augmentation étant moins forte dans les classes de lettres et de langues étrangères.

Von Schülern berichtete Unterschiede in ihrer Technikanwendung nach Einführung von ?One‐to‐One Computing“

Diese zwei‐jährige, mit verschiedenen Methoden arbeitende Untersuchung, mit Umfragen, Beobachtungen und Interviews, dokumentiert den Technologieeinsatz und die Kompetenz von Studenten vor und nach dem Einsatz eines neuen One‐to‐One Tablett‐Computer Programms an einer privaten Mittelschule der Vereinigten Staaten. Nach einem Jahr Nutzung der Tablettrechner wurden einige Unterschiede beim Technologiegebrauch und den Fertigkeiten bei den Studenten festgestellt, einschließlich einem höheren Zufriedenheitsgrad mit der Schultechnologie, öfterer Technologieverwendung in besonderen Fächern wie Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften, höherer Nutzung von Unterrichtsaktivitäten wie wechselseitiger Kommunikation und verbesserten Fertigkeiten und Kompetenzen in der Technologienutzung, z.B. bei der gemeinsamen Bearbeitung von Wikies. Neue Formen der studentischen Zusammenarbeit wurden erkennbar, nachdem das Tablett‐Programm eingerichtet worden war. Einige Differenzen blieben – abhängig von der Anspruchshöhe und den Testpersonen – widersprüchlich, was auch auf die unterschiedliche Nutzung der Programme durch die Lehrer zurückzuführen sein kann. Im Allgemeinen wuchs die Technikverwendung am meisten in Mathematik, den Naturwissenschaften und den soziologisch orientierten Fächern, weniger den Sprach‐ und Fremdsprachenbereichen.

Diferencias de uso y competencias en tecnologías relatas por los alumnos después de la introducción de la informática individualizada.

Este estudio de dos años y de métodos mixtos con encuestas, observaciones y entrevistas ha apuntado el uso y las destrezas de los alumnos en relación con la tecnología antes y después de la introducción de un nuevo programa “Tablet” de informática individualizada en un colegio secundario privado de los Estados Unidos. Después de un año con los “Tablets”, se notó varias diferencias en los usos y destrezas de los alumnos en relación con la tecnología, incluyendo: más sarisfacción con la tecnología de la escuela, un uso más frecuente de la tecnología en asignaturas como matemáticas y ciencias, una frecuencia más alta de ciertas actividades de aula como la comunicación bilateral y más destrezas tecnológicas en competencias como la edición de wikis colaborativos. Nuevas formas de colaboración estudiantil aparecierón claramente después de la introducción, del programa “Tablet”, entre ellas el reparto de apuntes y la co‐edición de wikis. Las diferencias entre niveles y asignaturas resultaron inconsistentes lo que conduce a pensar que los profesores están adoptando la inovación del “Tablet” de varias maneras. En general el incremento del uso de la tecnología fue más fuerte en las aulas de matemáticas, ciencias y ciencias sociales con incrementos más bajos en aulas de Humanidades y lenguas extranjeras.     

Gender,popularity and notions of in/authenticity amongst 12‐year‐old to 13‐year‐old school girls

This paper draws on data from a research project investigating gendered identities and interactions of high‐achieving students in Year Eight in England (12–13 years old), particularly in relation to students’ ‘popularity’ amongst their peers. As part of this study 71 students were interviewed from nine different schools in urban, rural and small town locations. From an analysis of participants’ conceptions of the characteristics of ‘popular’ and ‘unpopular’ students, this paper looks in depth at notions of in/authenticity and how it is perceived and judged in relation to the self and others. In particular, the paper focuses on the genderedness of such discourses of in/authenticity as constructed by these students, and relates such concerns to theorizations of ‘impossible’ femininity.     

The Acquisition of Science‐related Attitudes and its Relationship to Pre‐student Teaching Experience

It is desirable that secondary school science teachers should, in addition to acquiring factual knowledge in the content area of science, also develop favourable science‐related attitudes. The present science teacher education programmes provided in Teachers’ Colleges in Nigeria make provisions for the acquisition of factual knowledge in science. However, it is assumed that positive science‐related attitudes would be incidentally acquired as secondary product of cognitive outcomes.

This paper is a report of a study in which an instructional package‐‐the Introductory Science Teacher Education (ISTE)‐‐was designed to promote in pre‐service science teachers the acquisition of favourable science‐related attitudes.

A trial administration of the ISTE was carried out in the study. Then the effect of the ISTE on students exposed to it was determined in terms of acquisition of science‐related attitudes and competence in lesson preparation.

The results obtained confirmed that the ISTE could produce better science‐related attitudes than the traditional science teacher education programme. The superiority of the effect of the ISTE on lesson preparation competence of pre‐service science teachers was also established in the study. Thus, a case is made for the need for such a package as the ISTE in science teacher education programmes.     

Moving to inclusion: a socio‐cultural analysis of practice

Difference, like nature, calls forth possibilities for developing transformative relationships. According to Keller in 1985, ‘Difference thus invites a form of engagement and understanding that allows for the preservation of the individual. Self and other survive in a structural integrity?’ Moving towards inclusion requires that we consider teaching as relational where resources for joint actions emerge, promoting an awareness of possibility rather than an adherence to limitation. In this paper, I will argue that disability is a way of seeing the world via the social and cultural constructions that prioritise values and bias actions. My intent is that it furthers the on‐going inclusion debate, which at times has polarised positions into the non‐inclusion/inclusion camps. A social constructionist lens will be used to examine the underlying assumptions, beliefs, and resultant practices that describe how educators and students negotiate inclusive practices. As a complimentary focus, the medical and social models will highlight the discourses that inform teaching and learning. Finally, a social–relational model will be introduced as an alternative for conceptualising inclusion.     

The Importance of Parent‐to‐Parent Support among Families of Children with Autism in the People’s Republic of China

This article reports the experiences of families of children with autism in the People’s Republic of China. The caregivers of 43 children with autism attending one of two short‐term (3‐month) intervention programmes for young children with autism were interviewed about their experiences before, during, and after the programme. Parent‐to‐parent support emerged as the main theme. Specifically, caregivers in this study discussed the value of being with other parents who share similar experiences. Two reasons were given for the importance of parent‐to‐parent support: to learn from each other, and to gain moral support and encouragement in a relationship that is more equal and less discriminatory than was experienced from others in society. This report also briefly highlights the factors that are similar to family experiences in western contexts, as well as factors that are influenced by the Chinese context.     

The split‐off narrator: coming to symptoms in stories of learning to teach

In this conceptual paper I draw on narratives from several contexts in my own educational history – a student‐teaching experience, a graduate course in educational theory, and my work as a preservice teacher educator – to consider, first, the Winnicottian notion of the split‐off intellect, in which individual subjectivity is skewed toward thinking and away from affect, and second, an inversion of that notion, in which affect splits off to form the central domain of experience, relationship, and defense against difficulty. Theorizing some of the ways in which thinking and affect can at times seem to get in each other’s way, and reflecting on what individuals might use that ‘getting in the way’ to do, I explore some ways in which educators in general, and teacher educators in particular, might facilitate the working‐through of intellect/affect splits with the aim of helping students integrate thinking and feeling as they begin or continue their work in the classroom.     

Online versus face‐to‐face learning: looking at modes of instruction in Master’s‐level courses

This study examined performance of Master’s‐level students in an online course in Cognition, Learning and Assessment and compared it with the performance of students in a face‐to‐face classroom setting of the same course (N = 70). Data were collected from six sections of the course over a two‐year period. The same professor taught all sections. Identical final exams plus two common assignments were used to determine whether there were differences in performance. An analysis of covariance, with graduate record exam scores as the covariate, was applied using each of the dependent variables. Students in the face‐to‐face class scored significantly higher on two out of the three measures.     

Education and school‐to‐work transitions in post‐communist Poland∗

Abstract

Unemployment in Poland rose throughout 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 but the proportion of school‐leavers among the unemployed peaked in 1990. Unlike in most western market economies, the best‐ educated young people in Poland did not prove the least vulnerable to unemployment. This paper uses evidence from studies of young people in Gdansk, Katowice and Suwalki to argue that one reason why young people from professional and vocational secondary schools have not borne a heavier share of Poland's unemployment since 1990 has been the flexibility and responsiveness of these schools to Poland's new labour market conditions. Since the reforms many of these schools have contracted drastically. Some have closed. But others have thrived The latter have often benefited from favourable local labour market conditions, but their success has usually been at least equally due to their own resourcefulness in introducing new courses which teach skills that are in demand, and securing various kinds of sponsorship from employers. Three reasons are offered to explain the responsiveness of education in Poland to the changing labour market conditions: general support for ‘the reforms’, the schools’ experience of making informal deals with employers under communism, and the post‐communist authorities’ willingness to force unsuccessful schools to close and to see teachers made redundant.

     

Factors that contribute to the educational success of Haitian‐American women

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that contributed to the academic success of Haitian‐American women. This study was also conducted to determine if factors attributed to by academically successful Haitian women are related to selected demographic characteristics. Two hundred and thirteen Haitian women selected from the National Haitian Student Alliance, with at least a Bachelor’s degree, participated. They completed an online survey designed to elicit demographic information and their perception of the factors. Our results indicate that self‐motivation, financial assistance, access to resources, self‐perception and time management are among the most important factors that contributed to their academic success. Less important are community support and knowledge of a second language. Statistically significant relationships were found between a linear combination of the 16 success factors and only the following demographic characteristics: birthplace, years taken to complete college, father’s level of education and participant’s residence region.     

Collaborative action research to develop the use of solution‐focused approaches

This collaborative action research project involves two educational psychologists (EPs) working with teachers from four primary schools to develop the use of solution‐focused approaches. The project illustrates a way in which EPs might make a distinctive contribution to improving outcomes for children and young people. Realist interviews were used to identify mechanisms responsible for encouraging change in practice and many of these can be linked to action research or solution‐focused approaches. The project will be funded for two years and this report is based on the first year. Progress has been encouraging and findings suggest that solution‐focused action research is a successful model for introducing a new initiative.     

The contribution of sensitivity to speech rhythm and non‐speech rhythm to early reading development

Both sensitivity to speech rhythm and non‐speech rhythm have been associated with successful phonological awareness and reading development in separate studies. However, the extent to which speech rhythm, non‐speech rhythm and literacy skills are interrelated has not been examined. As a result, five‐ to seven‐year‐old English‐speaking children were assessed on measures of speech rhythm sensitivity, non‐speech rhythm sensitivity (both receptive and productive), reading attainment and phonological awareness. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that productive non‐speech rhythm was unable to predict variance in reading attainment independently of phonological awareness and speech rhythm sensitivity. Receptive sensitivity to speech rhythm and non‐speech rhythm were both able to predict a significant amount of unique variance in reading attainment after controlling for age, vocabulary, phonological awareness, short‐term memory and each other. The findings suggest that receptive sensitivity to speech rhythm and non‐speech rhythm, while related to each other, also make contributions to reading attainment that are independent of each other. These findings provide only partial consistency with the general auditory processing deficit theory of reading difficulties, but are in line with the emerging theoretical claim that sensitivity to speech prosody may be implicated in successful literacy development.     

Impediments to Partnership: A literature review of school‐university links

Partnership innovations between teacher educators on school and university sites have become ubiquitous. Calls for bridging the theory/practice gap have been answered with reappraisal and restructuring of programs. The literature on the rationale and implementation of a partnership approach has grown steadily since the early 1980s. Praise for measures that promote increased and meaningful interaction between the key players is now almost universal. Ironically, simultaneously, this documentation reveals the challenges as well as the promises of partnership. Clear impediments to the creation and nurturing of partnership have emerged. This paper takes as its principal focus an exploration of the literature that examines the range of barriers encountered by teachers of future teachers.