A virtual safe zone: Teachers supporting teenage student resilience through social media in times of war

We examine how teacher-student communication through social network technologies may support student resilience during an ongoing war (i.e., the 2014 Israel-Gaza war). Based on student responses from open-ended surveys (N = 68), five content categories of emotional support were identified: caring, reassuring, emotion sharing, belonging, and distracting. The mere existence of continuous online contact with teachers also contributed to resilience perceptions. Interviews with 11 secondary school teachers revealed three main purposes for this communication: (a) delivering emotional support to students, (b) monitoring their distress; and (c) maintaining civilized norms of discourse. Practical implications and theoretical contributions are discussed.     

Birth in an ordinary instant

Our daily lives are a series of ordinary moments and unnoticed thresholds-times that define us in ways we often do not give much attention. While we consider childbirth to be one of life's extra-ordinary events, the hours of labor and birth need not be dramatic (or traumatic) ones. I describe a quiet, well-supported birth in the Netherlands that is cause for celebration of the beauty of an ordinary instant that can define and enrich the human experience.     

Not playing the game: student assessment resistance as a form of agency

Within self-regulated learning, learners exercise agency by setting targets, formatively monitoring progress, and evaluating results in ways which inform their own goal attainment. However, in real-world classroom situations, assessment processes can elicit behaviours that are more ego-protective than growth-oriented. Resistance to teacher expectations in assessment can arise from the individual’s need to protect his or her own identity or ego within the psychosocial context of the classroom. In addition, resistance can arise from strategic choices learners make to cope with competing demands on their time and resources. Thus, students may exercise their agency by not following assessment expectations or protocols (e.g. lying, cheating, or failing to give their best effort). These choices seem to undermine assessment validity. This paper shares student voice data from the Measuring Teachers’ Assessment Practices (MTAP) project (n = 46 students in seven focus groups) in New Zealand and the Supporting Student-assessment Success (SSAS) Project (n = 108 first-year university students) in Australia. Both highlight the different ways students resist, subvert, or act in contention with assessment. These data show that students in both sectors do not always act in the growth-oriented ways that educators envision. Students reported exercising potentially maladaptive assessment agency via Assessment dishonesty, Purposeful underperformance, and Doing it alone. These categories were underpinned by three differing rationales: Protection, Strategic prioritisation, and Mini-max. Educators must be mindful of these potential student actions and motives, working to establish psychological safety within the learning environment, and making sure links between learning and assessment are clear.     

The role of teacher, student and ICT in enhancing student engagement in multiuser virtual environments

This paper reviews the teaching and learning practices and processes that were adopted in a study that incorporated multi-user virtual environments to support General Paper teaching and learning. The paper discusses the roles of the teacher, student and ICT in facilitating engaged learning. As this project is the first of its kind for the subject in Singapore, the paper seeks to highlight strategies that were adopted or could have been adopted to facilitate the enactment of such teacher and student roles as well as ensure effective deployment of ICT to support engaged learning.     

Integrating student learning with practitioner experiences via virtual field trips

The challenge of enriching the teaching/learning experience with the voice of practitioners has long been accomplished via field trips. Now, whether students are on another continent or in the presence of a teacher, they can have the field trip experience electronically. Therefore, this paper addresses: (i) the rationale for virtual field trips (VFTs) for a basic public speaking course; (ii) the content and design of the VFTs; (iii) insights gained from assessments of the roles and functions of VFTs over a 3 year period.     

Teacher motivation,quality instruction,and student outcomes: Not a simple path

In this commentary, I briefly describe the assumptions of the researchers, then consider what we have learned from the studies in this issue about the links between teacher motivation, instruction, and student perceptions and how best to study these links. Next, I describe three surprises and two concerns about the work reported. In discussing the implications of the research in this issue, I raise several questions that could be investigated to help us understand why teacher and student perceptions might differ and what can be done to bring them into better alignment. Finally, I explore some implications of these studies for teacher education.     

Negotiating accountability during student teaching: the influence of an inquiry-based student teaching seminar

Drawing on the work of Russian literary critic, Mikhail Bakhtin, this article explores how an inquiry-based social studies student teaching seminar helped three preservice teachers negotiate the pressures of standards-based reforms during student teaching. The author first examines how initial perceptions of standardization and high-stakes testing corroded images of powerful teaching and created an ex post facto relationship with teaching social studies. The author then explores how an inquiry-based seminar mitigated these initial impressions by (1) suspending the authority of accountability; (2) creating contact through collaborative inquiry; and (3) refracting practice.     

Systems Not Projects: focusing on evaluating overall student experience,rather than isolated innovations

This article describes evaluation of the Veterinary Bacteriology and Mycology problem‐based learning multimedia project at the University of Melbourne over a period of seven years. The design of the initial project will be described, together with learning benefits that short‐term evaluations revealed — including better information management skills, improved higher order cognitive skills, increased interest in the subject, better collaborative learning skills, better written and oral communication skills and better computer skills. All very impressive. However, follow‐up studies with staff and students in clinical years of the veterinary course indicated clearly that the positive benefits were not sustained in the long term, as this was a once‐off experience for students. We clearly needed a new approach. Since 1995, the institutional climate, opportunities provided by new technologies and international links have shifted the policy in the Faculty of Veterinary Science towards the development of online problem‐based subjects, hopefully enabling students to have a much greater exposure to a problem‐based learning approach.     

“君子不器”浅谈

“君子不器”是孔子对君子品质的最高要求,它既符合“仁”对德的要求,又符合中庸对智的要求,是对君子之德及智等诸多美好品质的高度概括,它为封建知识分子进德修业提供了一个理想的人格模式。     

将自己放低到尘埃

一个人敢将自己放低到尘埃,让灵魂接受大地和天空的双重滋润,恰恰可以成就自己的高峻。     

Teacher student interaction: A case study

This study is concerned with possible differences in interaction patterns between teachers and certain groups of students: high and low achievers, and boys and girls. Detailed and comprehensive records of all verbal teacher-student interactions, both public and private, were obtained through videotaping a grade 6 class in three different settings: mathematics, language and science. While there was much consistency in the way the teacher monitored in this study interacted with the different groups, some important differences occurred in the quality and quantity of his interactions with students perceived as best and weakest, and with boys and girls in mathematics classes.     

Self paced learning: A student perspective

Training reform in Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) has been well under way for over a decade. Reforms include marketisation, the widespread adoption of competency-based training, and most recently an adoption of various forms of flexible delivery. One of these alternative methods of delivery is self paced learning (SPL). SPL is presented by VET management as being advantageous to students and their employers, and in addition is generally less resource-intensive than face-to-face teaching. This paper examines SPL in a TAPE college from a student viewpoint. The research, using qualitative methods, examined the experiences of SPL, in Office Administration subjects, of students who have a Non English Speaking Background (NESB) or no regular access to computers. The paper describes how they adapted, reacted and responded to self paced learning. The difficulties experienced by these students when studying by self paced learning are discussed in detail. The findings indicate that, whilst students are appreciative of the flexibility which self paced learning affords, there are some concerns about its efficacy in relation to educational outcomes.     

Studying and Working: A national study of student finances and student engagement

Tertiary Education and Management - A key determinant of the new relationship between students and universities in Australia is the changing nature of higher education funding arrangements and the...     

Self paced learning: A student perspective

Training reform in Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) has been well under way for over a decade. Reforms include marketisation, the widespread adoption of competency-based training, and most recently an adoption of various forms of flexible delivery. One of these alternative methods of delivery is self paced learning (SPL). SPL is presented by VET management as being advantageous to students and their employers, and in addition is generally less resource-intensive than face-to-face teaching. This paper examines SPL in a TAFE college from a student viewpoint. The research, using qualitative methods, examined the experiences of SPL, in Office Administration subjects, of students who have a Non English Speaking Background (NESB) or no regular access to computers. The paper describes how they adapted, reacted and responded to self paced learning. The difficulties experienced by these students when studying by self paced learning are discussed in detail The findings indicate that, whilst students are appreciative of the flexibility which self paced learning affords, there are some concerns about its efficacy in relation to educational outcomes.