The nature of teacher authority and teacher expertise

The so‐called ‘soft skills’ utilised by teachers – including relationship building, awareness of the pupil's context and background and the demonstration of authority – to develop an appropriate learning culture in their classrooms have long been recognised as being a major contribution to effective promotion of positive behaviour. This article considers some of the dimensions of these, focusing on how these help in contributing towards ‘teacher authority’. The article draws on the parallel experiences of teachers and researchers in England, Russia and the United States to illustrate some of the international dimensions of this theme.     

Priming institutional change through effective project management:A case study of the Chic project

This paper explores how learning and teaching innovations undertaken by externally funded projects, with a fixed remit and lifecycle, can be integrated successfully into institutional educational developments. The example and methods of one particular project, in embedding its work within and relating it to the context of wider, nationally-promoted educational designs, is utilized to illustrate the possibilities for fostering institutional change. Such change relies upon working to promote a climate whose norms support a culture of trust, where team-working can forge a broader ownership of innovation     

Developing adaptive expertise in the wake of rehearsals: An emergent model of the debrief discussions of non-rehearsing teachers

This study explores conceptual links between practice-based teacher education and adaptive expertise, drawing on constructs of teacher noticing and position. We specifically examined debrief discussions following rehearsals, focusing on the experiences of non-rehearsing teachers (NRTs) who participate in rehearsals as students. We propose an emergent model of how debriefs can support NRTs’ development of adaptive expertise, through qualitative analysis of debriefs with secondary mathematics teachers. Debriefs provided opportunities for NRTs to socially construct adaptive expertise through making their experiences public and considering implications for teaching. We discuss ways debriefs contribute to the co-construction of adaptive expertise in practice-based teacher education.     

Prerequisite knowledge and time of testing in learning with animations and static pictures: Evidence for the expertise reversal effect

An animation can have an informational advantage over a static picture by depicting dynamic features. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the provision of prerequisite knowledge can help learners infer dynamic features from a static picture. It was assumed that this supposedly more active processing with a static picture would result in longer lasting knowledge representations. A 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design with visualization format (static picture vs. animation), prerequisite knowledge (provided vs. not provided), and time of testing (immediate vs. one week later) was used (N = 260). The results of a transfer test showed that learners with low prerequisite knowledge benefited from the animation, but this was not the case for learners with high prerequisite knowledge. Time of testing had no influence. In line with the expertise reversal effect, prerequisite knowledge not only fostered learning with the static picture but also hindered learning with the animation.     

The deployment of the medico-psychological gaze and disability expertise in relation to children with intellectual disability

In this study, we adopt the concepts of Michel Foucault on the medical gaze and Nikolas Rose on psychological expertise to differentiate between two forms of expertise evident in the education of intellectually disabled children. We draw on a discourse analytic study carried out in South Africa on intellectual disability in relation to educational practice to examine the operation of a medico-psychological gaze that calls for disability expertise in the management of disability. We conclude our discussion by noting that the dichotomy between impairment and disability that is proposed in the social model of disability does little to destabilise the power of the medico-psychological gaze since impairment is conceded to biomedical knowledge as an object of positive knowledge. This tacit acceptance of the medical authority gives sanction to disability expertise that operates in diffuse ways to regulate the educational experience of learners with intellectual disability. The implications of this conception for inclusive education are briefly explored, and further areas for research are suggested.     

Common features of expertise in working life: implications for higher education

ABSTRACT

We need to know what it means to be an expert in working life today. Universities are often accused of neglecting the basic idea that higher education should be relevant to working life, and research on the subject of expertise in today’s workplace is lacking. Thirteen experts from different fields were interviewed and the obtained data were analysed using grounded theory as an analytical approach. The research questions were: (1) How do experts define expertise? (2) What kind of problems persist in their work? and (3) How are ‘routine’ and ‘adaptive’ expertise performed? The results revealed that expertise is more a social and collaborative phenomenon than an individual property. Experts develop new solutions and seek constant learning in their work. They excel at spontaneous problem solving. These findings suggest that, to prepare students to become experts, deliberate learning and practice should be provided within a framework of collaborative problem solving.     

Coupled physical and digital cadaver dissection followed by a visual test protocol provides insights into the nature of anatomical knowledge and its evaluation

This research effort compared and contrasted two conceptually different methods for the exploration of human anatomy in the first‐year dissection laboratory by accomplished students: “physical” dissection using an embalmed cadaver and “digital” dissection using three‐dimensional volume modeling of whole‐body CT and MRI image sets acquired using the same cadaver. The goal was to understand the relative contributions each method makes toward student acquisition of intuitive sense of practical anatomical knowledge gained during “hands‐on” structural exploration tasks. The main instruments for measuring anatomical knowledge under this conceptual model were questions generated using a classification system designed to assess both visual presentation manner and the corresponding response information required. Students were randomly divided into groups based on exploration method (physical or digital dissection) and then anatomical region. The physical dissectors proceeded with their direct methods, whereas the digital dissectors generated and manipulated indirect 3D digital models. After 6 weeks, corresponding student anatomical assignment teams compared their results using photography and animated digital visualizations. Finally, to see whether each method provided unique advantages, a visual test protocol of new visualizations based on the classification schema was administered. Results indicated that all students, regardless of gender, dissection method, and anatomical region dissected performed significantly better on questions presented as rotating models requiring spatial ordering or viewpoint determination responses in contrast to requests for specific lexical feature identifications. Additional results provided evidence of trends showing significant differences in gender and dissection method scores. These trends will be explored with further trials with larger populations. Anat Sci Ed 1:27–40, 2008. © 2007 American Association of Anatomists.     

国际视野下学习工厂的要素、教学与发展

新工业革命下,未来工作要求和相关能力的变化需要劳动者能够快速适应新环境、新情况、新技术,采取自主工作行动找到创造性的解决方案,工程教育需要新的教学理念、创新性的学习环境和学习方法以应对挑战.学习工厂为学习者提供跨学科的基于实践经验的学习机会,学习者在接近真实生产的环境中通过自主行动完成企业生产流程中面向产品全生命周期的...     

The impact of complexity on the expertise reversal effect: experimental evidence from testing accounting students

Element interactivity is a central concept of cognitive load theory that defines the complexity of a learning task. The reduction of task complexity through a temporary segmentation or isolation of interacting elements was investigated with 104 students randomly assigned to an interacting elements group, where participants were required to deal with complex accounting problems in their entirety, or an isolated elements group, where the task was broken down into constituent components. The results provide strong support for the expertise reversal effect with isolated elements beneficial for novices, while interacting elements were appropriate for more knowledgeable learners. Critically, these results only were obtained for high rather than low element interactivity materials. It was concluded that segmentation or element isolation should consider the expertise of the learner in conjunction with the complexity of the learning material.     

The anonymous reviewer: the relationship between perceived expertise and the perceptions of peer feedback in higher education

Peer feedback often has positive effects on student learning processes and outcomes. However, students may not always be honest when giving and receiving peer feedback as they are likely to be biased due to peer relations, peer characteristics and personal preferences. To alleviate these biases, anonymous peer feedback was investigated in the current research. Research suggests that the expertise of the reviewer influences the perceived usefulness of the feedback. Therefore, this research investigated the relationship between expertise and the perceptions of peer feedback in a writing assignment of 41 students in higher education with a multilevel analysis. The results show that students perceive peer feedback as more adequate when knowing the reviewer perceives him/herself to have a high level of expertise. Furthermore, the results suggest that students who received feedback from a peer who perceives their expertise as closer to the reviewee’s own perceived expertise was more willing to improve his or her own assignment.     

Learning in context: Technology integration in a teacher preparation program informed by situated learning theory

This investigation explores the effectiveness of a teacher preparation program aligned with situated learning theory on preservice science teachers' use of technology during their student teaching experiences. Participants included 26 preservice science teachers enrolled in a 2‐year Master of Teaching program. A specific program goal was to prepare teachers to use technology to support reform‐based science instruction. To this end, the program integrated technology instruction across five courses and situated this instruction within the context of learning and teaching science. A variety of data sources were used to characterize the participants' intentions and instructional practices, including classroom observations, lesson plans, interviews, and written reflections. Data analysis followed a constant comparative process with the goal of describing if, how, and why the participants integrated technology into their instruction and the extent to which they applied, adapted, and innovated upon what they learned in the science teacher preparation program. Results indicate that all participants used technology throughout their student teaching for reform‐based science instruction. Additionally, they used digital images, videos, animations, and simulations to teach process skills, support inquiry instruction, and to enhance student engagement in ways that represented application, adaptation, and innovation upon what they learned in the science teaching methods program. Participants cited several features of the science teacher preparation program that helped them to effectively integrate technology into their instruction. These included participating in science lessons in which technology was modeled in the context of specific instructional approaches, collaborating with peers, and opportunities for feedback and reflection after teaching lessons. The findings of this study suggest that situated learning theory may provide an effective structure for preparing preservice teachers to integrate technology in ways that support reform‐based instruction. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50:348–379, 2013     

Traditional and contemporary approaches to career-long professional learning: a primary physical education journey in Scotland

With career-long professional learning increasingly seen as a significant element of teacher education, this paper proposes that there is a need to acknowledge the complex nature of the professional learning process. The paper explores lessons learnt from over a decade of professional learning efforts by the Developmental Physical Education Group at The University of Edinburgh. With the group's traditional initial continuing professional development efforts having limited impact on teachers' practice, the paper considers how more recent efforts have refocused on a longer term, participative and situated approach that appears to be having significantly more influence on teachers as professional learners.     

Reframing Westernized culture: insights from a Critical Friends Group on EcoJustice education

In this article I report the findings of an intrinsic case study involving seven ecologically minded teachers who participated in a Critical Friends Group (CFG) for five months. The topic of our discussions was EcoJustice education, which involves analyzing and reframing Westernized culture. Findings are focused on how the participants grappled with what EcoJustice education means and their affective responses to both the content and the professional development experience. Analysis of the data revealed that reframing Westernized culture takes time, that it is not merely an intellectual exercise but also an emotional and psychological one, and that personal internalization comes before practical application. The participants also indicated that they valued being in a CFG where they could be honest and vulnerable as well as supported, connected, inspired, and challenged. I conclude by recommending CFGs as a model for transformative professional development in environmental education.     

Pedagogical perspectives on the relationships between higher education and working life

The relationship between higher educationinstitutions and their environment has changedmarkedly during the last two decades.Massification and diversification of the highereducation system, economic globalisation, novelmodes of knowledge production, new professionalrequirements and the establishment of newvocational higher education systems in manycountries have challenged higher educationinstitutions to develop new forms ofcollaboration with working life. The newsituation also challenges higher education todevelop pedagogical and educational thinkingand practices. The purpose of this article isto examine the pedagogical aspects of theincreasing interaction and collaboration thatis taking place between higher education andworking life and to outline what kind ofchallenges it poses for research on highereducation. It is emphasised that from thepedagogical viewpoint integration betweentheory and practice in work-based learning isessential. Our general conclusion is that therelationship between higher education andworking life should be examined at least fromfour different perspectives: (1) from theviewpoint of student learning and thedevelopment of expertise, (2) from the viewpointof educational institutions and staff, (3) fromthe viewpoint of working life organisations andemployers, and (4) from the viewpoint of societyand the system of education.     

Reflection and Connections: The Other Side of Integration

Jewish day schools offer many experiences meant to foster the Jewish development of students. However, these experiences are at risk of being disconnected from one another, complicating a comprehensive approach to addressing issues of identity. This article uses a constructivist approach to identity development to frame the challenges posed by such a fragmentation. Observations of pluralistic Jewish day high schools are brought as illustrations. The author discusses an approach of scaffolded reflection as a way to integrate the identity—enhancing experiences in which a student participates.     

从做中学--美国2 1世纪职业教育走向

美国21世纪职业教育仍以杜戚的“从做中学”思想为指导,在具体实施过程中将强调“情境学习”。本文从实践需要与理论基础出发,简明讨论了“从做中学”和“情境学习”在美国21世纪的家庭、学校、工作地点以及社区等与职业教育密切相关的学习环境下的具体应用,从中探寻美国21世纪职业教育的主要发展趋势及可能实施的计划。     

情境认知论与高校现代汉语教学改革

情境认知论提出的"学习是在特定情境中对知识的建构"的先进理念,对高校现代汉语教学改革具有启示意义和指导作用。遵循知识习得规律,高校现代汉语教学必须从教学理念到考核方式进行全方位的情境化改革,才能走出困境,重获生机。     

From assistant teacher to teacher: challenges and pathways in situated pre-service teacher education

Vocational pathways to Higher Education have a key role in opening teacher education to under-represented groups but bring with them particular challenges. Teacher educators need to address the challenges faced by these learners, of not only connecting their learning but also challenging their knowledge, and doing so in an invested work environment. This paper shares my experiences as a teacher educator working with two groups of Indigenous and non-Indigenous para-professional pre-service teachers in remote and urban Central Australia. I identify four key role-shifting challenges individuals face in developing their professional practice and locate them in two interdependent areas: social sphere challenges arising out of the situated learning setting of professional experience, and those occurring in the personal sphere of professional identity. I suggest that the new ways of mentoring and the development of student’s reflexive capacity needed to address these challenges can best be mobilised by re-positioning the role of professional identity at the centre of both professional experience and academic learning.