Multigrade teaching: towards an international research and policy agenda

Despite its prevalence in many educational systems, multigrade teaching remains invisible. In the global effort to achieve education for all in the post-Dakar decade the needs of multigrade teachers, classes and schools must be addressed. The paper (i) explores the meaning of the term multigrade teaching in developing and industrialised countries and identifies a range of conditions under which it arises; (ii) synthesises knowledge of the practice of and research on multigrade teaching; and (iii) proposes an international agenda for future research on and dissemination of policy and practice. The agenda underlines the need for context-specific questions and comparisons, more awareness of the prevalence and challenges of multigrade teaching, more research on the practices and training needs of multigrade teaching and the exploration of synergies between teachers, curriculum, assessment and classroom organisation. It is suggested that knowledge of multigrade teaching strategies is needed by all teachers and not simply those in classes designated as ‘multigrade’.     

Multigrade teaching in Peru, Sri Lanka and Vietnam: an overview

This paper comprises reviews of multigrade teaching in three countries: Peru, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. For each country, we describe the context for multigrade teaching, the country's education system, the place of multigrade teaching within the system, problems associated with multigrade teaching and current strategies for multigrade teaching. We conclude by noting some common experiences for multigrade schools across the countries, including those of isolation and dispersion, lack of physical facilities, poor teacher backgrounds and conditions, limited classroom teaching and learning strategies and pupils' deprived backgrounds. Also common across the three countries is a national commitment to improving the situation for multigrade classrooms.     

The preparation of teachers for multigrade teaching

A large proportion of teachers throughout the world teach in multigrade classrooms, or classes with more than one grade level. It is reliably predicted that the number of multigrade classes will increase in the future. This paper addresses the issue of teacher education for multigrade. The main thesis of this paper is that the professional knowledge and skills that are relevant and necessary to teaching effectively in single-grade contexts are also relevant and necessary for effective multigrade teaching. However, many of these skills need to be given a specific multigrade emphasis in the context of the preparation of teachers for multigrade teaching. This does not necessitate separate teacher education programmes for multigrade teachers. The paper makes comparisons between multigrade and single-grade teaching in terms of outcomes and teaching practices and highlights the importance of effective teacher education programmes that cater for the needs of teachers in a broad rather than a narrow sense. The content of programmes aimed at the specific preparation of multigrade teachers are examined, and a categorisation of specific areas of content that need particular emphasis in the context of teacher education for multigrade is provided.     

Prospective teachers’ beliefs about imaginative thinking in K-12 schooling

This study examined prospective teachers’ (N = 176) beliefs about the role that memorization and imaginative thinking play in K-12 schooling. Results indicate that the majority of prospective teachers (68.5%) believed there was a specific grade that teachers should place more emphasis on the memorization of correct answers rather than encourage students’ imaginative thinking. Moreover, a significantly disproportionate number of prospective teachers selected the elementary grades (and 1st grade in particular) as the time when students should be encouraged to focus more on memorization. Finally, results of logistic regression analysis indicate that prospective teachers who viewed unexpected student responses as ideal were significantly more likely to believe that it was never appropriate to place more emphasis on memorization. Implications of these results, along with prospective teachers’ justifications for their selections, are also discussed.     

Music teachers in Turkey: their proficiency,working environments and problems

The aim of this study was the collection of data concerning Turkish music teachers’ proficiency and their place in the primary and secondary education system. In addition, information was collected regarding the teachers’ working environment and professional complications. A total of 200 music teachers’ opinions were compiled for the determination and evaluation of existing conditions. Opinions in different areas were analysed with statistical results indicating a government need to provide facilities and supply budgets for all levels of art and music education. Suggestions have been offered regarding the importance of educating qualified teachers and avoiding the impediments to their work. If carried out, music teachers’ job satisfaction will increase.     

The relationship between schooling and migration: Evidence from compulsory schooling laws

I estimate the effect of schooling on the propensity to migrate by exploiting variation in schooling due to compulsory schooling laws (CSLs) in the United States. I obtain negative estimates of this effect among those with relatively little schooling. In contrast, previous research estimates positive schooling effects on migration at higher levels of schooling. I speculate that additional schooling at low levels enhances local labor market contacts and thereby increases the opportunity cost of migration (leaving those contacts behind).     

Multigrade teaching and age composition of the class: The influence on academic and social outcomes among students

This article presents innovative analyses on the effects of the age composition of the class using the first wave of a large-scale longitudinal study of nine year old children, the Growing Up in Ireland study. The analyses focus on both academic and social outcomes. Taking account of a rich set of control factors, few overall differences were found in student outcomes between single-grade and multigrade classes. However, girls were found to experience a range of negative effects, depending on the age composition of the class.     

Gender organization of schooling and television viewing among early adolescents: a test of two alternative hypotheses

In this analysis, single‐sex and mixed schools are compared in terms of pupils' television viewing habits, the latter factor being considered as an indicator of a pupil's sense of educational responsibilities. It was hypothesized that the presumably lower levels of television watching among girls attending single‐sex schools could be explained by school climate factors pertaining to adolescent subculture values and/or to the pedagogic approaches of a predominantly female staff. Use was made of data from 68 academic‐type secondary schools in Flanders (Belgium). Of these schools, 25 were mixed and 43 were single‐sex (21 girls', and 22 boys' schools). Respondents were third‐year pupils: 3370 girls and 3057 boys, aged 14 and 15 years. A multilevel analysis (HLM) was performed controlling for parental socio‐economic status, curriculum enrolment, school residency and school mean SES. The results mainly indicate that the differential effect of single‐sex and coeducational schools on girls' TV watching habits may be partially accounted for by factors associated with pedagogic approaches by the predominantly female staff in girls' schools, but not at all by norms related to the adolescent subculture.     

Primary School Students’ Conflict Resolution Strategies in Turkey

This study examined conflict resolution strategies (CRSs) resorted to by sixth, seventh, and eighth grade primary school pupils in Turkey and identified gender differences in the resolution strategies typically resorted to. In addition, the study aimed to find out what actual conflicts students asked assistance for from teachers and what strategies students thought teachers used in dealing with their conflicts. The data for this research were collected via a questionnaire involving mostly open-ended items. Results supported the notion that three main groups of strategies (problem-solving, avoiding and aggressive) typically get implemented in solving conflicts. Problem-solving strategies were observed to be most frequently employed by the participants. There was a significant gender difference in terms of the use of CRSs, in that girls were more likely to use problem-solving strategies than boys. The majority of the participants tended not to ask for assistance from teachers in resolving their conflicts. However, students from low SES schools were more likely to ask for teacher assistance than students from middle and high SES schools. The participants also stated that teachers typically used two main strategies in helping them resolve their conflicts: problem-solving and aggressive strategies.     

Metaphorical images of schooling: beliefs about teaching and learning among prospective teachers from the United States displaying different motivational profiles

This study focused on investigating the types of schooling beliefs (teaching and learning) expressed through metaphorical images by prospective teachers (PTs) from the United States. Participants (N = 215) rated 10 schooling metaphors illustrating the student–school–teacher relationships (i.e. Passenger–Bus–Driver; Student is a passenger, School is a bus and Teacher is a driver). Two main factors, a student-centred and a teacher-centred approach described the key schooling beliefs of PTs. Additionally, differences in PTs’ schooling beliefs across typologies/clusters of PTs were found. Further, qualitative data from interviews illustrated how each cluster specifically expressed their instructional views.     

An ecological perspective of teacher retention: An emergent model

The aim of this study is to examine the characteristics of an ecological school culture conducive to the retention of novice teachers. Twenty novice teachers were selected randomly from 20 different schools in Israel. The qualitative research findings revealed that an ecological school culture conducive to the retention of novice teachers possesses a multi-dimensional framework characterized by categories such as organizational practices, peer communication, individual aspects, community, working conditions and teacher status. The research findings can contribute to reshaping guidance procedures and practices best-suited to novice teachers, which will ultimately aid in the retention of quality teachers.     

A queer politics of emotion: reimagining sexualities and schooling

This paper draws together [Hochschild's (1979) Emotion Work, Feeling Rules and Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology 85: 551–575; (1983) The Managed Heart: Commercialisation of Human Feeling. London: University of California Press] concepts of emotional labour and feeling rules with Ahmed's affective economies [(2004a) The Cultural Politics of Emotion. New York: Routledge; (2004b) “Affective Economies.” Social Text 22 (2): 117–139; (2008) “Sociable Happiness.” Emotion, Space and Society 1: 10–13; (2010) The Promise of Happiness. Durham: Duke University Press] and queer phenomenology [(2006a) Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others. London: Duke University Press; (2006b) “Orientations: Towards a Queer Phenomenology.” GLQ: A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies 12 (4): 543–574] as a way to address wider questions about sexuality and schooling. It highlights the value of the everyday politics of emotion for elucidating and clarifying the specificities, pertinence and complementarities of Hochschild's and Ahmed's work for reimagining the relationship between sexualities and schooling. The combination of their approaches allows for a focus on the individual, bodily management of emotions while demonstrating the connectedness of bodies and spaces. It enables disruption of ‘inclusive’ and ‘progressive’ educational approaches that leave heterosexuality uninterrupted and provides insight into how power works in and across the bodies, discourses, practices, relations and spaces of schools to maintain a collective orientation towards heterosexuality. It also counters linear narratives of progressive change, elucidating how change is a hopeful but messy process of simultaneous constraint, transgression and transformation. Key moments from a three-year study with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBT-Q) teachers entering into civil partnerships in Ireland serve as exploratory examples of the theoretical ideas put forward in this paper.     

Christian home schooling in China

The literature focusing on Christian home schooling has been entirely ignored in the educational context of China, because practising home schooling is illegal and such families have strong religious beliefs. In particular, in China, studies grounded in empirical research and dealing with the development of Christian home schooling are negligible. The findings of this study were generated by an analysis of qualitative data: they provided in-depth information about the motivation of those who practice Christian home schooling, types of existing Christian home schooling, teaching content, and teaching methods and outcomes. It was found that Christian beliefs and values philosophically support Chinese Christian families in the process of their practice of home schooling.     

Novices and veterans journeying into real-world teaching: How a veteran learns from novices

This paper illustrates the experiences of novice teachers through self-reflection by a teacher trainer. It shows how novice teachers recognize deficiencies in their professional capacity, the coping strategies they adopt and implications for teacher training. As teacher trainers we should know why novice teachers say ‘I wish they had taught me about…’ or ‘how lucky I am to have been taught this.’ The paper accounts for the initial experiences of novice teachers in their first school and clarifies how they address their own self-improvement. It shows how novice teachers engage in meaning making as they connect theory and practice in the classroom. It also illustrates how within one component of a teacher training programme a veteran teacher-trainer learnt from novices whose experiences enabled practical theories to be recognised. The evidence highlights potential areas of criticality in teacher education programmes in the real-world of teaching.     

两年制对人文社科类硕士研究生的影响——一项基于学生与导师的调查

两年制是现行硕士研究生教育改革的趋势，也是中国市场经济发展的趋势。本文以问卷调查和访谈的方式，探讨了硕士研究生与导师对于缩短学制的原因，两年制对学生学习研究与就业的影响，以及适合于实行两年制的专业及培养模式的建议等问题的看法。     

“Bumpy moments” in teaching: Reflections from practicing teachers

During the complex teaching act, there are moments that require teachers to engage in reflection to make critical decisions about how to respond to particular problems in practice. The present investigation provides a stimulus for capturing these reflections as four elementary practicing teachers are asked to describe their “bumpy moments” in teaching. Analysis of the 19 “bumpy moments” identified offers insights into the thoughts, knowledge, and beliefs that these teachers are considering during their practice. Results have implications for capturing reflection during teaching, ongoing practicing teacher professional development, and preservice teacher education.     

师专"两课"教学若干问题刍议

师专"两课"教学要处理好几个矛盾和关系内容多与课时少的矛盾,"两课"必修与兴趣不高的矛盾,学习与考试的矛盾;厚与薄的关系,学习内容与培养能力、提高素质的关系,课堂学习与关心时事政治的关系,主体与主导的关系,原理与体系的关系.     

高校新教师应具备的几个基本品质与在教学中应着重解决的问题

一年来的教学,我有许多的感想,使我更清醒地认识到教师,尤其是高校教师应具备或应做到的绝不是几句话就能概括的,但我觉得教师的基本品质与教学方法中的8个主要方面对于青年教师更为重要。这8个方面主要涉及教师对学生的态度、对事业的热爱、教学的方法以及不断学习的精神等。只要每个青年高校教师能真正做好这几个方面的工作,就会取得长足的进步,逐步成为合格的教师。     

Perpetrating disaffection: schooling as an international problem

This paper argues that, despite evidence of widespread disaffection, school is often regarded as the default position for educational provision, a given good. If there is disaffection with, and resistance to, schooling, then it is pupils and parents that are the problem, not school itself. Yet there is considerable evidence that schooling does not necessarily or automatically benefit either society as a whole or the individuals who attend and that, as a result, it creates disaffection with itself. Rejection of schooling is therefore very far from being an irrational or ill‐considered act. The paper reviews evidence supporting this argument including both the failure of schools to protect young people from danger and violence and also their direct role in actively perpetrating violence and threatening the safety of those they are there to protect. The paper ends by arguing that disaffection with schooling stems from its fundamental nature and purposes which have been shaped by its historical origins. While schooling remains as it is, disaffection and resistance will continue to be an inbuilt and often logical response.     

Gender gap in returns to schooling in Palestine

This study provides estimates of the private returns to schooling in Palestine utilizing eight quarterly labor force surveys for 1999 and 2001. This period was chosen to investigate the differential impact of the Israeli closure policy on Palestinian male and female workers. Although gross enrollment ratios for males and females reveal little to no difference in the primary, middle and tertiary levels of schooling, returns to schooling are significantly different. On average, females earned 14–15% less than males in 1999. The gender gap is narrowed during 2001 due to rising male unemployment in the Palestinian areas. Performing the regression for males and females separately, it is found that returns to schooling are larger for women (at least at the margin). The gap in returns to schooling was reduced in 2001; however, female returns to schooling as estimated by OLS suffer from selectivity bias which worsened during 2001. The work in Israel premium increased for women and decreased for men. Finally, Palestinian public sector employment parallels periods of restricted access to Israeli labor markets; its average wages are lower and years of schooling are higher relative to private sector employment.