Producing Video‐based Resource Material for Teacher Training in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Science Teacher Training project (ZeSTT) has, since 1979, been running at the Science Education Centre of the University of Zimbabwe, producing learning resource materials for teacher‐trainers in Zimbabwean Colleges of Education. Multi‐media packages, video programmes and printed materials have been produced, not only in science but in an increasing number of other subject areas. The paper describes the evolution of techniques of recording videotaped material of teachers in action during typical lessons in local schools, for editing into complete programmes or as study excerpts.     

The Creation of the ‘Hong Kong Visual Arts Education Web’ and the Use of the Inquiry‐Based Teaching Approach

This article describes a collaborative action research conducted by a lecturer and several primary school art teachers, who between 2001 and 2006 created the Visual Arts Education Web (‘iii web’) in Hong Kong. The creation of the ‘iii web’ was accomplished through research that employed questionnaires, focus group discussions and individual interviews. Teachers' perceptions of using websites in teaching were examined, art education websites from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China and the USA were compared, in order to create a website that could meet the needs of Hong Kong primary school art teachers. Inquiry‐based learning is one of the important teaching approaches that were introduced during the Hong Kong Education Reform in 2003. An example of using the ‘iii web’ to teach public art is described to illustrate how the teacher and students used inquiry‐based learning in art education.     

Lifelong learning and the reform of the teaching practicum in Australia

This paper reports the findings of a project—‘Lifelong learning and teacher education’—undertaken by the Centre for Lifelong Learning, Australian Catholic University, under the auspices of the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training. The study was designed to investigate the operationalization of lifelong learning in Australian teacher education. The study revealed that there is a range of existing, innovative practices regarding partnerships between schools and higher and further education that are in keeping with emerging ideas about lifelong learning. Moreover, some of these take the form of collaborative action research projects focused on improving the learning occurring in the partnership schools. This paper describes some current approaches in Australia to collaborative action research by teacher educators' and their partnership schools and shows how they contribute to lifelong learning. The approaches are then analyzed to suggest ways of advancing lifelong learning within Australian Education Faculties thus helping to make lifelong learning more of a reality for all.     

The influence of the Creative Learning Assessment (CLA) on children's learning and teachers' teaching

This paper describes the development and use of the Creative Learning Assessment (CLA) as a means of evidencing, supporting and promoting children's creative learning in arts‐based contexts. The research team at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) worked with a group of teachers in inner‐city Lambeth primary schools to develop an assessment system to record the impact of a creative curriculum on children's achievement and to enable schools to justify a broad‐based provision. The Assessing Learning and Communication in Creative Learning Contexts project, funded by CfBT Education Trust (CfBT), aimed to offer teachers a view of creative learning development and a framework for teacher assessment. It set out to provide a close focus on the learner and a valuable source of information for curriculum planning. This article discusses the effect of working with the CLA on children's learning and on teachers' practice through a case study of one project school, and the implications for schools and classrooms from the perspectives of the researcher and the teacher.     

Beyond cultural competence: transforming teacher professional learning through Aboriginal community-controlled cultural immersion

ABSTRACT

This paper problematises the concept of cultural competence in teacher professional learning arguing instead for opportunities to develop critical reflexivity in the ongoing construction of a pedagogical cultural identity. In the Aboriginal context within Australia, this research study demonstrates how attaining cultural knowledge, understandings and skills is most effective when professional learning is delivered by local Aboriginal cultural knowledge holders. This research study analyses the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Connecting to Country cultural immersion programme for local communities and schools. A mixed methods approach, analysing quantitative and qualitative data from questionnaires and interviews, highlights the significant impact this experience has on teachers in building relationships with local Aboriginal community members. Teachers reported learning new knowledge about local Aboriginal people, culture, history and issues that challenged their assumptions, personal and collective positioning and pedagogical approaches to teaching Aboriginal students. Implications from the study identify the significance of privileging Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing in order to realise culturally responsive schooling and empower teachers as critically reflective change agents in their schools. It further identifies the need for significant human and financial investment so that all teachers can engage with this authentic and potentially transformative professional learning experience.     

The Virtual Field Station (VFS): using a virtual reality environment for ecological fieldwork in A-Level biological studies—Case Study 3

Case studies are one way of producing the evidential base necessary for ICT to become embedded in everyday teaching and learning. Such case studies are vital for the purposes of generalisation. Also, teacher generated case-studies have the benefit of being research that is done by teachers in conjunction with Higher Education support and mediation, as opposed to research being done to teachers by Higher Education. One such teacher-generated case study at the cutting edge of ICT researches the effectiveness of a Virtual Field Station for the teaching of an A Level biology topic. The subject was the exotic one of the Mediterranean sea turtle. Student fieldwork involving these fascinating creatures is desirable but difficult, as the sea turtle's habitat is the archipelago of the Aegean Sea. The paper argues that a Virtual Field Centre is an effective substitute for actuality in terms of the development of student knowledge and understanding for examination purposes. As such, it is an innovative development that sits at the forefront of an area of Science Education that is rapidly developing, ie ICT-mediated teaching and learning.     

Learning from Rookie Mistakes: Critical Incidents in Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Science to Teachers

While there is a growing literature focused on doctoral preparation for teaching about science teaching, rarely have recommendations extended to preparation for teaching science content to teachers. We three doctoral students employ self-study as a research methodology to investigate our developing pedagogical content knowledge for teaching science to teachers during a mentored internship in an elementary teacher professional development program. With our mentor, we examine critical incidents in the experience that supported new insights about teaching teachers and about ways in which beginning teacher educators need to develop their existing pedagogical content knowledge for teaching science to students in order to teach science effectively to teachers. We emphasize ways in which doctoral internships can support this learning and how our respective cultures shaped our interactions with and perceptions of teachers as learners.     

Australia’s supervising teachers: motivators and challenges to inform professional learning

This paper offers an overview of what motivates and challenges Australian supervising teachers to work with preservice teachers in their classrooms. In the contemporary Australian context of new National Professional Standards for Teachers, a new national curriculum and new standards for Initial Teacher Education programs, what motivates and challenges supervising teachers becomes a focus for professional learning through analysis presented in this paper. Data are reported from a national data set that includes 314 responding supervising teachers who took the Mentoring Perspectives Inventory from 2012–2014. The MPI data are aggregated in this paper to suggest that the wider system of teacher education could benefit from attention at various levels of interest to develop the underlying knowledge base of supervising teachers and our understanding of how they are challenged and motivated in their work with preservice teachers.     

Developing communities of practice within and outside higher education institutions

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are largely built on the assumption that learning is an individual process best encouraged by explicit teaching that is, on the whole, separated from social engagement with those outside the university community. This perspective has been theoretically challenged by those who argue for a social constructivist learning theory and a more collaborative approach to learning. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) afford lecturers and students an opportunity for extending the boundaries of a learning experience, not merely beyond the lone individual, but beyond the limits of discipline boundaries within a specific university community and beyond the institution into the local community. This paper illustrates how a collaborative effort between lecturers and students from the Computer Science and Education Departments at Rhodes University, teachers from the local community, the provincial Department of Education and a non-governmental organisation developed into an unfolding virtual and physical community of practice which enabled ICT take-up in a number of schools in the Grahamstown District, South Africa. This discussion of what has become known as the e-Yethu project provides an example of how ICTs, underpinned by the insights of social constructivism, the notion of 'community of practice' and in particular Hoadley and Kilner's C4P Framework for Communities of Practice, can serve to help HEIs understand ways in which ICTs can provide opportunities for developing collaborative learning within HEIs, and between the HEI and the local community.     

Understanding the real barriers to technology-enhanced innovation in higher education

Background: Academic staff have a key role to play in the innovation efforts of universities aiming to exploit the potential of web-based learning technologies. Although learning technologies are an important building block of educational innovation, the eLearning adoption rate of European academic staff appears disappointing. The majority of curricula in European universities are stalled in the traditional pedagogical model of knowledge transmission, which continues to dominate teaching and learning.

Purpose: This conceptual paper explores underlying structural and cultural barriers to technology-enhanced innovation in higher education.

Sources of evidence: Starting from the underdeveloped state of eLearning in European universities, the paper challenges arguments that visible barriers such as technical issues, budget constraints or lack of interest in technology amongst academic staff represent the actual reasons for the slow advancement of learning technologies in university curricula.

Main argument: The paper argues that the lack of faculty interest and engagement for eLearning are visible symptoms for deeply rooted causes, which hinder current innovation efforts of universities. It explores theoretical viewpoints for structural peculiarities of universities, motivational and habitual traits of academic staff, and long-standing cultural values in the academic community in an attempt to understand their impact on technology-enhanced innovation in higher education.

Conclusions: The real dilemma for eLearning innovation is caused by macro-level influence factors that even committed universities can hardly overcome at institutional level. University leaders have to take the underlying innovation barriers into account when they try to engage academic staff for the use of learning technologies. With a realistic view on existing limitations, institutional eLearning adoption efforts have to be tailored to serve real learning needs and motivations of academic staff; and they have to consider specific goals and contexts within different universities.     

Schrum,Lynne ed (2010) Considerations on technology and teachers ISTE & Eurospan (London) isbn 978‐1‐56484‐273‐2 237 pp £28.50http://www.iste.org/store/product.aspx?ID=2113&utm_source=Digital%2BCatalog&utm_medium=Digital%2BCatalog&utm_campaign=SS12%2BDigital%2BCatalog%2BNew%2BBooks%0D

Schrum's Considerations on technology and teachers discusses the topic of it integration in education and provides an accurate analysis of the many implications for teachers. It informs readers on ways to use it successfully, and describes current trends and pedagogies to increase achievement and motivation in embedding it in teaching. Therefore, this is a fundamental resource for teachers, teacher educators and researchers interested in investigating all the aspects of it ‐integrated education. In fact, if the content is likely to be relevant to you, I recommend you buy a copy for your use. Cristina Oddone     

Instructional practices in secondary science: How teachers achieve local and standards-based success

This article reports on analyses of the instructional practices of six middle- and high-school science teachers in the United States who participated in a research-practice partnership that aims to support reform science education goals at scale. All six teachers were well qualified, experienced, and locally successful—respected by students, parents, colleagues, and administrators—but they differed in their success in supporting students' three-dimensional learning. Our goal is to understand how the teachers' instructional practices contributed to their similarities in achieving local success and to differences in enabling students' learning, and to consider the implications of these findings for research-practice partnerships. Data sources included classroom videos supplemented by interviews with teachers and focus students and examples of student work. We also compared students' learning gains by teacher using pre–post assessments that elicited three-dimensional performances. Analyses of classroom videos showed how all six teachers achieved local success—they led effectively managed classrooms, covered the curriculum by teaching almost all unit activities, and assessed students' work in fair and efficient ways. There were important differences, however, in how teachers engaged students in science practices. Teachers in classrooms where students achieved lower learning gains followed a pattern of practice we describe as activity-based teaching, in which students completed investigations and hands-on activities with few opportunities for sensemaking discussions or three-dimensional science performances. Teachers whose students achieved higher learning gains combined the social stability characteristic of local classroom success with more demanding instructional practices associated with scientific sensemaking and cognitive apprenticeship. We conclude with a discussion of implications for research-practice partnerships, highlighting how partnerships need to support all teachers in achieving both local and standards-based success.     

Developing a Heritage and ICT Project in 12 Irish Primary Schools

This paper outlines how a heritage and ICT project entitled ‘The Sligo Seashore Project’ was organised in twelve Irish primary schools from September 2001 to June 2003. The project was coordinated and supported by the ICT Advisor, Sligo Education Centre and the Heritage Officer, Sligo County Council. It was an extension of “Exploring the Field Fences of County Sligo”, a Schools Integration Project or SIP, one of the initiatives of the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) in the Schools IT 2000 programme. The project sought to promote high levels of awareness and understanding of seashore heritage amongst the participants. It also gave them an opportunity to learn with and through ICT and in that way learn in a new and different way. The project was sponsored by a number of national and local organisations both public and private. The schools were situated on or close to the County Sligo coastline and were provided with resource material and computing equipment and received a number of supports including ICT training in digital media. The students studied the following areas: animals, habitats and plants, man and the sea and history of our coast. The students recorded their findings through essays, stories, written articles, artwork, crafts, puppets, models, photographs, maps and multimedia presentations. The second phase involved the collection and organisation of all the project material in preparation for the construction of a website, www.sligoseashore.com which developed a range of resources for teachers and students. The project was awarded first prize at the 2003 eSchola awards where the chair of the judging panel said it was “beautifully designed and perfectly integrated from a pedagogical point-of-view”. The project is ongoing.     

Applying Case‐based Reasoning in Knowledge Management to Support Organizational Performance

Research and practice in human performance technology (HPT) has recently accelerated the search for innovative approaches to supplement or replace traditional training interventions for improving organizational performance. This article examines a knowledge management framework built upon the theories and techniques of case‐based reasoning (CBR) and Nonaka's (1991, 1994) knowledge conversion model to shed light on how organizational performance can be enhanced by leveraging organizational knowledge represented as cases to support learning, working, and innovation of knowledge workers. This framework offers HPT practitioners new ways of thinking and methods for the design of performance support interventions by which organizational knowledge is stored, codified, delivered, and acted upon in context, on demand, and at the point of need. This paper describes a project, Knowledge Innovation for Technology in Education (KITE), which was designed to support professional development of teachers using CBR and knowledge conversion theories.     

以课堂学习研究为平台改进朗读教学的个案分析

香港地区关于朗读教学的研究不多,教师难以得到专业上的有力支持。香港一所中学的教师凭借"课堂学习研究"这个平台,与香港教育学院协作,在初中三年级进行了一次有关朗读教学的研究。研究由诊断学生朗读中的困难开始,继而找出学习内容及关键特征,并运用变易学习理论设计教学。三个循环的课堂实践不但让学生普遍掌握了朗读的技巧,而且让教师认识到学生学习成果与课堂教学的关系,从而促进了教师的专业发展。     

An Investigation of the Effectiveness of an Evaluation Instrument Designed for Use with Modular Masters Courses in a Range of International Contexts

In a previous paper the construction of an instrument designed to be of use in the evaluation of modular Masters courses for teachers and administrators in international schools was described. Initial impressions of the efficacy of the instrument were encouraging, and its use was extended in a number of ways within the scheme of continuing professional development organised through the Centre for the study of Education in an International Context at the University of Bath. In particular, the evaluation model was extended to three different modules taught in an increased number of Study Centre locations, by different tutors, to groups of different sizes and composition. Under such a range of conditions the question arises of parity of quality in the delivery of the modules, and the usefulness of the evaluation instrument in contributing to an assessment of the quality of teaching and learning was explored. This paper describes the results of an investigation undertaken to test the robustness of the instrument with respect to both the increased range of dimensions involved and the level of detail possible. The outcomes confirm initial impressions of the overall value of the instrument in assessing general levels of satisfaction expressed by participants with respect to a variety of course features, but also indicate the ways in which it could be employed as a tool to evaluate the relative contributions to overall success made by a set of components concerned with the content of the modules, the teaching arrangements, support for participants and the relevance of the modules to the educational work of those taking part.     

清代地方教官的施教方式

清代的地方教官既包括学政,也包括府州县学的儒学教官。他们在清代的教育体系中担负着教育和教化生员的责任。但是,学政忙于岁科考试,而儒学教官也因生员散居各地并不在学宫中施行教学。那么,清代地方教官如何施教呢?从清代教官的实际活动看,有的著书立说,有的编印书籍,有的创建书院,有的惩恶劝善,通过对生员的劝谕与惩戒进行管理和约束。     

The Importance of Multiple Representations of Mathematical Problems: Evidence from Chinese Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Analysis of a Learning Goal

This article describes a study of how Chinese preservice teachers unpacked a learning goal pertaining to adding fractions and understanding the concepts underlying the operation. Based on work in the USA by Morris, Hiebert, and Spizter (Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 40(5), 491–529, 2009), 50 Chinese preservice teachers completed a task, anticipating an ideal student response, in the context of four representations: (1) fraction pieces, (2) graph paper, (3) common denominator algorithm, and (4) pennies. Like the US-based study, this study shows that Chinese preservice teachers’ ability to unpack a learning goal was highly influenced by how the problem was represented. The pennies and graph paper problems provided more supportive contexts for unpacking the learning goal; the algorithm problem provided the least supportive context. The main difference between the preservice teachers from these two countries was the US preservice teachers chose the pennies and graph paper problems as having the most potential for revealing students’ understanding of the learning goal; while the Chinese preservice teachers chose the algorithm problem despite the problem’s unsupportive context. Chinese preservice teachers’ preference suggests that they privileged algorithmic/symbolic representations over pictorial/concrete representations. Based on our results, we argue that it is time for cross-cultural comparative research to refocus on the common barriers, challenges, and benefits as related to mathematics teacher preparation and professional development. A cooperative instead of competitive orientation will lead to richer and deeper dialogues among mathematics educators.     

Balancing tensions in educational policy reforms: large-scale implementation of Assessment for Learning in Norway

This study investigates how different stakeholders in Norway experienced a government-initiated, large-scale policy implementation programme on Assessment for Learning (AfL). Data were collected through 58 interviews with stakeholders in charge of the policy; Ministers of Education and members of the Directorate of Education and Training in Norway, and the main actors such as municipality leaders, teachers, school leaders and students. Successful implementation of AfL processes was found in municipalities where there were dialogue and trust between the municipality level, school leaders, teachers and students and where the programme was adapted to the local context. Implementation was challenged when the policy was interpreted as a way of controlling the schools. Despite the successful implementation in some municipalities, the programme did not have any effect upon students’ learning outcome, as measured on national tests in reading and mathematics. The results are discussed in relation to how local assessment cultures with particular characteristics influence governing, accountability and trust.     

The emergence of reading literacy in post-primary teacher education: from the background to the foreground

While recognising the fact that historically teacher education and adolescent literacy are two fields that have had limited intellectual contact, the development of reading literacy is increasingly now accepted internationally as a core responsibility of all teachers and teacher educators. Adopting a socio-cultural perspective, this paper, drawn from the Learning to Teach Study, focused on the beliefs, knowledge and experiences regarding reading literacy of Irish post-primary student teachers on one initial teacher education (ITE) programme. The data were collected through three interviews with each of 17 student teachers. Results suggest that the surveyed student teachers had some concerns about their own literacy, had narrow conceptions of literacy, tended not to see it as their responsibility, held a minimal threshold view of literacy and viewed new digital technologies as a resource and motivator for their students’ literacy learning. Results are discussed in terms of how student teachers’ knowledge of literacy in ITE programmes could be reframed, extended and deepened.