Speech and occupational needs

DEMOCRACY AND DISAGREEMENT. By Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1996; pp. viii + 422. $27.95; paper $16.95.

THE MILD VOICE OF REASON: DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY AND AMERICAN NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. By Joseph M. Bessette. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994; pp. xvi + 289. $32.50; paper $15.95.

NORMS OF RHETORICAL CULTURE. By Thomas B. Farrell. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993; pp. x + 374. Paper $18.00.

PUBLIC DELIBERATION: PLURALISM, COMPLEXITY, AND DEMOCRACY. By James Bohman. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1996; xi + 303. $30.00.     

The special needs of teachers of special needs children

More and more, special needs children are entering early childhood education programs. But the integration of special needs children into the regular classroom — and their acceptance by their nonhandicapped peers — continues to be a concern of both parents and teachers. Many of the proposed benefits of mainstreaming are based upon opportunities for interactions between special needs children and their nonhandicapped peers. What we know about enhancing the quality of these interactions has definite implications for teachers. After examining the research on social relations and social skills training programs for special needs children, we will discuss these implications.Cary A. Buzzelli is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama. Nancy File is a doctoral student in the Department of Child Development and Family Studies at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.     

新教材新教师 --人教网"中学生物"栏目在线交流荟萃

依据课程标准编写的《义务教育课程标准实验教科书生物学》已在实验区试教了一年时间了。为了及时听取实验区一线教师的意见 ,了解他们在教学中的实际困难和存在的问题 ,不断完善新教材 ,充分发挥互联网这一高信息路的作用 ,为实验区教师搭建一个相互交流和学习的平台 ,为在教材编写者和使用者之间构建一个相互沟通的渠道 ,人教网“中学生物”栏目特邀人教版生物新教材主编、北京师范大学附属中学特级教师、从事中学生物学教育达 4 0多年之久的朱正威先生做客聊天室 ,回答教师就新课标、新教材提出的有关问题。本文将有代表性的问答做一简要…     

高校教师培训个体需求探析

我国高校教师培训的个体需求将由重学历培训轻非学历培训 ,转变为终身需求知识性培训、学术性培训和教学性培训并重。应通过政策引导、全面推行教师职务聘任制、实施教师培训制度、建立培训运行保障机制等措施 ,促使教师重视非学历培训和教学性培训 ,提高培训效果 ,满足高校教师培训的个体需求     

Professional development and perceived needs of science teachers

About 100 science teachers in the Sydney Metropolitan West Region were surveyed to determine their professional development needs and the ways in which these needs could be met. The findings provide a ranking of science teacher perceived professional development needs, a list of possible incentives to motivate science teachers to complete inservice programs (in priority order) and an indication of the preferred modes of presentation to meet professional development needs. In general, science teachers stated a preference for professional development related to modern trends in science education directly related to classroom practice. In contrast to recommendations from DEET, science teachers indicated a preference for traditional models of inservice. Data related to preferred mode of inservice indicated significant gender differences. Specializations: science teacher professional development. Specializations: educational psychology and research design. Specialization: constructivist approaches in science education.     

The professional development needs of Hong Kong ESL teachers

In the light of changing needs for the professional development (PD) of ESL teachers in Hong Kong, this study investigates current practice and future needs within the context of the implementation of educational reforms by the Hong Kong Government. A cohort of ESL teachers, members of a knowledge sharing community project, participated in a survey to gauge their experience of, and attitudes towards, PD. The survey produced a 100% response. Data from the cohort indicated that experienced, well-qualified ESL teachers perceive the need for PD from a broader perspective than their less qualified, less experienced peers who are driven by more immediate needs. These findings resonate with those from countries where PD is viewed as an integral part of ongoing teacher development. The paper concludes with the recommendations that the current findings would be augmented by a further, qualitative study.     

Experience,education and the inservice needs of mathematics teachers

A 23-item questionnaire was employed to measure the inservice needs of 246 teachers of mathematics in Grades 7, 8, and 9. Five general need areas were identified: curriculum, planning and application of teaching aids, classroom strategies, subject matter, and updated information from the field of mathematics education. Teachers were then sorted into sub-groups on the basis of their prior teaching experience and educational credentials. Analysis of variance and profiles constructed of teacher needs indicated that teacher sub-groups attributed different priorities to the five need categories. The implications for planning teacher inservice activities are briefly discussed.     

Child abuse and neglect: Training needs of student teachers

Increasing awareness of child abuse and neglect (CAN) raises questions about how well teachers are prepared for their role in child protection. This paper assesses and differentiates training needs of first-year students (n = 216) in Northern Ireland. Multiple-choice tests were used to assess knowledge of CAN statistics; recognising and reporting; policies, procedures, and legislative frameworks; and direct work with children. Considerable gaps in knowledge were found. Results between student groups varied and provide evidence of the need to develop pre-service child protection training. The importance of differentiation between student groups in terms of training content is emphasised.     

Short-term volunteer teachers in rural China: challenges and needs

The brain-drain caused by imbalanced economic development has produced a lack of qualified teachers in rural China. Short-term volunteer teaching has emerged as a response. Despite the popularity of such programs, little systematic data have been gathered regarding their strengths and weaknesses. A short-term volunteer teaching program was studied. The volunteer teachers’ characteristics and teaching experience in the program were explored. It was found that volunteers did not receive sufficient training or support from the agency. Therefore, they experienced substantial challenges on site and suffered from burnout. Based on the volunteer teachers’ opinions and agency staff’s suggestions, the authors propose ways to improve short-term volunteer teaching programs in China.     

教师需要现状调查与教师激励方案的修改

本文对师生需求的满意度作了简单调查,阐述了教师激励方案必须遵循的基本原则,提出了构建教师激励方案应包含的主要内容及修改方法。     

The perceived needs of support of parents and classroom teachers a comparison of needs in two microsystems

The aim of this study was to describe and compare from a systems perspective the perceived needs of parents and teachers of school-age children with intellectual impairments. The relationship between type and degree of impairment to perceived needs was analysed. Comparisons revealed that while the parents and teachers differed regarding their respective needs, they agreed on specific informational needs. It was found that certain child characteristics in interaction with contextual factors evoked specific needs within microsystem settings. Motor impairments tended to correlate with needs regarding family routines, and impairments in communication and behaviour tended to correlate with family informational needs. Teachers expressed significantly more and stronger needs than parents, and teachers who instructed according to a reading based curriculum expressed more and stronger needs than teachers who instructed according to a life-skills based curriculum. These findings are discussed, together with their implications for future research and changes in teacher education.     

An examination of the professional development needs of out-of-field mathematics teachers

This paper presents an empirical study examining the professional development needs of out-of-field mathematics teachers in the Irish context (n = 202). An online questionnaire gathered data on cohort demographics and confidence with regard to teaching mathematics. A paper-and-pencil test evaluated teachers' cognitive and conceptual proficiency with curriculum-aligned mathematical content. Low achievement levels and high occurrence of conceptual errors indicate inadequate subject content knowledge and difficulties with the content of the curriculum. Additionally, these teachers described themselves as either somewhat or very confident in teaching all content. The discrepancies which exist between confidence levels and content proficiency highlight the importance of designing appropriate professional development programs that are situated and practice based.     

School consultation: The training needs of teachers and school psychologists

This paper describes the roles of teachers and school psychologists and presents an overview of current and prospective methods of providing services to special needs children. On the basis of the literature and professional experience, it is suggested that changes are needed in the provision of special education services. The consultative relationship between teachers and school psychologists is viewed as the key to successful classroom intervention for special needs children. Although each profession brings expertise into the consultative relationship, better training is needed for teachers and school psychologists to ensure that effective intervention strategies are developed.     

The learning needs of beginning teachers in the United Arab Emirates

Beginning teachers have legitimate learning needs that cannot be grasped in advance or outside the school context. These needs are documented in Western literature, but the skills required by beginning teachers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have not been investigated. The present study responds to this research gap. Data were collected through a self-administered survey with multiple-choice and open-ended questions completed by beginning teachers. Then focus group meetings with selected participants were conducted. Classroom management, creating attractive learning environments, motivating pupils to learn and using different teaching strategies are the most critical learning needs of beginning teachers in the UAE. Interestingly, being responsive to the diverse cultural and social backgrounds of pupils, creating extra-curricular activities and teaching in overpopulated classrooms were considered less crucial. These findings are significant for improving pre-service teacher education programmes and in-service teacher training and mentoring programmes in the country.     

Meeting the needs of teachers and students within the CESAR training system

Computers seem to be an unquestionably useful tool to support the learning process, although positive students' and teachers' attitude towards the system is required to guarantee a successful introduction of new technologies in traditional classrooms. Training or exercises provide the students with the challenge of using their knowledge to solve concrete problems, so that they incite students to participate actively. Training can be adapted to different learning styles in order to strengthen student involvement. Moreover, tools to adapt the didactic material to several educational methods must be provided, in such a way that teachers consider the system a helpful tool rather than a substitute. Taking into account the foregoing, this paper describes a training system to create and use exercises in a hypermedia learning environment for hearing-impaired children called CESAR.     

浅析当代艺术教育中艺术院校需要怎样的老师和学生

艺术院校的教学结构理念和思路随着时代化信息的不断进步而完善和变动着,中国大多数的艺术院校也在通识化教育的基础上不断的创新和实验着。本文针对艺术教育的现状,从学生的角度与老师的角度这两个方面来分析。