Primary and secondary teachers’ conceptions of assessment: A qualitative study

A particular framework of teachers’ conceptions about assessment in school is presented. Fifty teachers of primary and secondary school were interviewed. Results of a qualitative analysis allowed building a model of conceptions of assessment. This model comprises four dimensions about the effects of assessment on: teaching, learning, accountability of teachers and schools to different audiences and stakeholders, and the certification of achievement. These conceptions, unequally distributed, show some tendencies that might be linked to the intrinsic tension between the by-default co-occurrence of both pedagogic and societal functions of assessment in school, and to difficulties of implementing assessment for learning practices.     

Novice teachers’ conceptions of fairness in inclusion classrooms

The issue of “fairness” troubles some general education teachers, who may be reluctant to teach students with disabilities. Journals written by 47 general education preservice and novice teachers were data sources for examining teachers’ concerns about fairness. Five areas of concern emerged: general responses, definitions of fairness, dealing with students, classroom applications (e.g., grading), and negative views. These themes are illustrated and discussed within the theoretical framework of principles of distribution of benefits. Suggestions are offered for helping teacher education students move toward acceptance of needs-based principles of fairness.     

浅谈音乐课堂中的德育实施

音乐是人类的第二语言,是积聚灵感、催发情感、激活想象、培养美丽心灵的艺术。音乐教学中,音乐只是手段,教育人才是关键．教师要在音乐课堂中渗透德育,让音乐与生活沟通起来,以自身在课堂上的表现促进孩子情感的发展。     

Pre-service teachers’ episodic memories of classroom management

This study focused on past excellent teachers’ classroom management strategies from the perspective of 148 pre-service teachers. The purpose of the study was to examine how pre-service teachers’ memories reflect classroom management models that are typically taught in teacher education coursework prior to their study of those models, as well as to explore memories that did not fit a particular model. Results indicated that pre-service teachers related episodes that clustered on establishing rules, but were less likely to relate experiences based on other strategies such as withitness, smooth transitions, or formal classroom meetings. Implications for teacher education are explored.     

Primary and secondary teachers’ conceptions about heritage and heritage education: A comparative analysis

This study describes and analyses the conceptions of primary teachers and secondary teachers of Physics–Chemistry, Biology–Geology and Geography–History with respect to the concept of heritage and its teaching and learning, taking the model of teacher-researcher as the theoretical referent. The data collection instrument used was a questionnaire, designed on the basis of categories that in turn were used for the analysis of the resulting data. The results show a high degree of homogeneity in pedagogic content knowledge, in contrast to the heterogeneity of the conceptions with respect to purely content knowledge.     

让音乐课堂充满活力

笔者根据自己的教学实践对音乐课堂教学的改革谈一些认识：0改变教师的角色定位；②营造民主和谐的学习情境；⑦进行一张一弛的扩散启发；④体现思潮和情感的涌动；⑤激发“悟性”培养创新能力。     

Student teachers' ways of experiencing the objective of health education as a school subject: A phenomenographic study

The aim of this phenomenographic study was to identify student teachers' (N = 20) ways of experiencing health education as a school subject, using semi-structured interviews and essays. The findings indicated that the target phenomenon was discussed through the general objective of the subject in five ways: health education as 1) a context for delivering theoretical knowledge, 2) a channel for providing pupils with practical knowledge and skills to contribute to health-related choices, 3) a means to promote pupils' self-regulative knowledge and independent thinking, 4) a context for personal growth, and 5) a means for developing responsible behavior in society. The hierarchically-ordered categories arrived at varied along six themes of expanding awareness. The findings can be used as a basis for planning educational settings, with a view to deepening student teachers' understanding.     

Teaching styles and conceptions of effective teachers: Tibetan and Han Chinese academics compared

The principal objective of this research is to ascertain if the “research–teaching dichotomy” as revealed in the relationship between conceptions of effective teachers and teaching styles among Han Chinese academics can be found among Tibetan academics. As a preliminary objective, this research examines the appropriateness of the Effective Teacher Inventory (Zhang, 2003) for evaluating Tibetan academics' conceptions of effective teachers and compares the conceptions of effective teachers between Tibetan and Han Chinese academics. The Thinking Styles in Teaching Inventory (Grigorenko & Sternberg, 1993) and the Effective Teacher Inventory (Zhang, 2003) were administered to 162 Tibetan academics. For the purpose of comparison, data from 93 Han Chinese academics in Zhang's (2009) study were integrated into the present research.The results warranted two conclusions. First, the Effective Teacher Inventory was appropriate for assessing Tibetan academics' conceptions of effective teachers; and there was no substantial difference in the conceptions of effective teachers between the two samples. Second, as it was among Han Chinese academics, the apparent “research–teaching dichotomy” was identified among Tibetan academics. Limitations and significance of this research are discussed and directions for future research are proposed.     

Understanding new teachers’ professional identities through metaphor

This qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews examines the metaphors new teachers use to describe their professional identities and compares metaphors chosen immediately following graduation with those suggested part way through their first year of teaching. Findings indicate that new teachers make a shift from seeing themselves as ready for the challenge, to adopting a survival mode. The metaphors suggest that new teachers struggle to develop a professional identity during their first year, and that this development process is gradual, complex and often problematic. Implications for teacher education indicate that greater emphasis needs to be placed on exploring professional identity in pre-service programmes.     

Patterns of development in second-career teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning

This study was aimed at deepening our understanding of second-career teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning. Initial conceptions held by 207 candidates entering an alternative teacher education programme were explored using a semi-structured questionnaire covering background characteristics and four themes concerning teaching and learning. A limited number of distinct conceptions could be identified and related to respondents' background characteristics. After the first semester of the programme, three patterns of development were found in a subset of 69 participants: growth, consolidation and regression. Pedagogical implications for fostering growth in second-career teachers are discussed.     

Elementary preservice teachers’ opinions about parental involvement in elementary children's education

Although parent–teacher interaction is a key factor for children's education, little attention has been paid to this issue in teacher education programs. This study explores and examines the opinions of elementary preservice teachers about parental involvement in elementary children's education. While a total of 223 preservice teachers from a large research university in the southeast of United States participated in the quantitative part, twelve preservice teachers within the same sample who were at the end of their student teaching participated in the qualitative part of the study. Study results suggested that teacher education programmes where parental involvement instruction and activities are integrated into the courses help preservice teachers become better prepared and carry positive opinions toward parental involvement.     

Success and near misses: Pre-service teachers’ use,confidence and success in various classroom management strategies

While the importance of effective classroom management is repeatedly made, there is little comprehensive research identifying the management strategies pre-service teachers employ, nor how successful or confident they find various strategies. Accordingly, 336 Canadian pre-service teachers were surveyed. It was found that pre-service teachers report most frequently employing initial corrective strategies (for example, physical proximity), even though preventative strategies (such as establishing regular routines) were reported to be as successful as these initial corrective strategies. The strategies pre-service teachers report most frequently employing were also those they felt the most confident in. Recommendations for teaching programs conclude the paper.     

当前中学音乐教育课堂教学的常用模式--高师音乐教育与中小学音乐教育课堂教学模式的比较研究

阐述中学音乐教育课堂教学的几种常用模式,旨在探索适应新课程改革的新的教学思路以及在传统的音乐教学模式的基础上汲取精华,扬长避短。     

Student teachers’ skills in the implementation of collaborative learning: A multilevel approach

This study explores the development of student teachers’ skills in implementing collaborative learning (CL) using a multilevel repeated measures design. Participants were 105 pre-service teachers that were trained in CL implementation. The results indicate that student teachers generally perform well in implementing CL. Further, it appears that these skills increase over time, although no linear growth can be found. Student teachers’ skills development appears to be positively connected with their general feeling of teaching efficacy. Surprisingly, training and students’ pedagogical knowledge have no significant impact.     

Pre-service teacher education students' epistemological beliefs and their conceptions of teaching

A study using both quantitative and qualitative methods was conducted in the final year of a Bachelor of Education programme to examine the student-teachers' epistemological beliefs and conceptions of teaching. The results show that most of the student-teachers (i) strongly believed that learning effort was more important than innate ability, (ii) strongly believed that knowledge changes, and (iii) were inclined to question the authority of knowledge. Although student-teachers who had sophisticated or mixed epistemological beliefs tended to believe in constructivist or mixed conceptions of teaching as predicted, inconsistent cases were identified. Implications for teacher education programmes are discussed.     

音乐活动在素质教育中的重要作用

高等院校着眼于为国家培养高层次的人才,而人才的素质将直接关系到我国的社会主义事业的成败。实践及有关科研成果证明:音乐在提高人的素质方面,具备卓有成效而又无可替代的功能。     

浅析中学音乐教育对教师素质的要求

本文通过对21世纪中学音乐教育与素质教育的联系及我国基础教育现状的分析,详细论述了中学音乐教师应具备良好的思想品德修养、综合的音乐学科专业修养和技能、与各门基础学科相结合的教学能力、教学实践和多种形式辅助能力,音乐教育教学科学研究等5个方面的能力。     

“Maybe I can teach those kids.” The influence of contextual factors on student teachers’ efficacy beliefs

This study investigated student teachers’ efficacy beliefs, collective teacher efficacy beliefs, and perceived cooperating teachers’ efficacy beliefs. These student teacher beliefs were examined with the focus on context, primarily the school setting (i.e., rural, suburban, and urban), to determine whether setting played a role in the development of the student teachers’ efficacy beliefs. The research participants included 102 student teachers. All three setting groups exhibited significant increases in teachers’ sense of efficacy following student teaching. Urban student teachers exhibited significantly lower perceived collective efficacy. Perceived cooperating teachers’ efficacy was predictive of and positively related to the student teachers’ post-TSES scores.     

Breaking the habit: engineering students’ understanding of mathematical creativity

ABSTRACT

In higher education, engineering students have to be prepared for their future jobs, with knowledge but also with several soft skills, among them creativity. In this paper, we present a study carried on with 128 engineering undergraduate students on their understanding of mathematical creativity. The students were in the first year of different engineering first degrees in a north-eastern Portuguese university and we analysed the content of their texts for the question ‘What do you understand by mathematical creativity?’. Data collection was done in the first semester of the academic years 2014/2015 and 2016/2017 in a Linear Algebra course. The results showed that ‘problem solving’ category had the majority of the references in 2014/2015, but not in the academic year 2016/2017 were ‘involving mathematics’ category had the majority. This exploratory study pointed out for ‘problem solving’ and ‘involving mathematics’ categories and gave us hints for teaching mathematics courses in engineering degrees.