Bilingual education in Peru: Evidence on how Quechua-medium education affects indigenous children's academic achievement

This study uses the Peruvian Young Lives International Study of Childhood Poverty's School Level data to investigate the effect of Quechua-medium instruction on academic achievement. We find that Indigenous children who attend Quechua-medium schools achieve 0.429 standard deviations higher scores in mathematics compared to Indigenous children who attend Spanish-medium schools. There is no evidence that these effects are caused by quantitative or language achievement acquired prior to entering school. Our findings suggest that Quechua-medium education for children of Quechua speaking parents may play a role in ameliorating the Indigenous test score gap.     

Imagination for re-engagement from the margins of education

For marginalised secondary school students, mainstream education may no longer appear to be an inviting place. While proposed solutions to problems of disengagement and marginalisation appear to concentrate on finding ways to coerce students back to mainstream education through, for example, ‘learning or earning’ legislation, this article suggests that more effective solutions may be found by engaging with the students in the margins that they occupy. Following discussion of key influences on student disengagement and a theory of imaginations, a ‘students-as-researchers’ (SaR) model of working with young people is discussed to demonstrate that, through the scaffolded application of active imagination, it is possible for such students to identify and create their own connections to the mainstream. The SaR model is illustrated through reference to groups of disaffected high school students who participated in an action research project to investigate apparent low aspiration for tertiary education among their peers at schools serving low-income communities in Queensland, Australia.     

Instructional technology and the structure of education

This article is an extention of “The Proper Study of Instructional Technology” published in ECTJ, 1984, 32, pp. 67–88, and is best understood in that context. By considering instructional technology as a subset of technology rather than as a subset of education, we can examine more freely the institutions of education in relation to their acceptance or rejection of the design and implementation of technologically based instruction. Methods of institutional analysis used in other disciplines can be helpful. For example, a method of organizational analysis developed by Charles Perrow, a sociologist, is used to maintain that education institutions reflect a craft rather than a technology orientation. A legal anlaysis is also used to show how the governance of education reinforces its craft nature. The analyses are intended to stimulate a line of research that uses aspects of the institutions themselves as variables.     

Compressing instruction time into fewer years of schooling and the impact on student performance

Is it possible to compress instruction time into fewer school years without lowering education levels? A fundamental reform in Germany reduced the length of academic track schooling by one year, while increasing instruction hours in the remaining school years to provide students with a very similar core curriculum and the same overall instruction time. Using aggregated administrative data on the full population of students, we find that the reform increases grade repetition rates and lowers final grade point averages, without affecting graduation rates. The results suggest adverse reform effects on student performance, but the economic significance of the effects appears moderate.     

Gauging primary school teachers’ environmental literacy: An issue of ‘priority’

Over the past thirty years, it has often been stated that primary school education should endeavour to improve and protect the environment through producing an ‘environmentally informed, committed and active citizenry’. Even so, existing research shows that the implementation of environmental education in primary schools is problematic and has had limited success. However, the reasons for these shortcomings are far from clear, with present research merely speculating about barriers to effective implementation. This paper presents a detailed discussion and analysis of primary school teachers knowledge and beliefs about environmental concepts and environmental education. In so doing, the paper identifies a perceived gap within the field of environmental education research and literature. This field has neglected studies of Australian primary school teacher’s knowledge and beliefs about environmental education as a factor affecting the capacity of schooling to achieve environmental education goals. To these ends, we utilise the concept of ‘environmental literacy’ to assess primary school teacher’s knowledge and beliefs about environmental education. Based upon preliminary data analysis, we tentatively claim that current Queensland primary school teachers are variably committed to and demonstrably lack content knowledge of environmental concepts and environmental education. More significantly, these primary school teachers tend to dismiss the importance of content knowledge, preferring to focus upon attitudes towards environmental education and environmental concepts. Clearly these levels of environmental literacy are inadequate if environmentally literate students and thus an environmentally literate citizenry are to be achieved within schools. We conclude that the introduction of environmental literacy in educational policy would advance the goals of environmental education, namely the production of an informed, committed and active citizenry.     

Sense of place in environmental education

Although environmental education research has embraced the idea of sense of place, it has rarely taken into account environmental psychology-based sense of place literature whose theory and empirical studies can enhance related studies in the education context. This article contributes to research on sense of place in environmental education from an environmental psychology perspective. We review the components of sense of place, including place attachment and place meanings. Then we explore the logic and evidence suggesting a relationship between place attachment, place meanings, pro-environmental behavior, and factors influencing sense of place. Finally, based on this literature we propose that in general environmental education can influence sense of place through a combination of direct place experiences and instruction.     

An ecological perspective on research with computers in science education

This paper presents an “ecological perspective” on research with computers in science education. It is proposed that current and past research within the computer education field has been characterised by an over-emphasis on technical applications of the machinery, rather than a deeper consideration of the teaching and learning process. This tendency toward “technocentric thinking” has usually failed to take into account the important social and cognitive interactions within the computer learning environment. The view advanced here, is that an understanding of the effects of computers on students' learning can be achieved only through an analysis of the dynamic interactions between students and teachers as they work with computers in a particular environment. A theoretical framework for understanding this range of interactions is presented. Finally, an ecological model is proposed for conducting future research on the application of computers in science education. Specializations: information technology in education, science education, technology education, environmental education, and media education     

An analysis of the integration of instructional technology in pre-service teacher education in Zimbabwe

In the context of continuous innovations in information and communication technology (ICT) and its impact on higher education, this study explored the integration of instructional technology (IT) by university lecturers in pre-service secondary school teacher education programs in Zimbabwe. Specifically, the study examined how lecturers integrate IT into their instruction, and the constraints they face. Twenty-one lecturers in the colleges of education at three universities participated. The data collection methods used are questionnaires, interviews and analysis of documents. Analysis of data was inductive, employing Miles and Huberman’s interactive data analysis model. Findings show that lecturers’ computer proficiency and competencies were at the basic level in Internet usage, with little confidence shown in basic productivity software skills and in IT integration tasks and processes. The lecturers’ integration of IT was at the Entry and Adoption stages. Institutional support was characterized by poor availability and access to appropriate technological tools by both lecturers and students, and in the context of a hyper-inflationary operating environment, constraints ranged from lack of institutional funding, to the absence of an IT integration policy framework, and the lack of appropriate initial and continuous staff development. This study is part of the nucleus of instructional technology research in the Zimbabwean context. It is hoped that insights gleaned will influence policy, practice and future research. From a global perspective, this study will add to the limited knowledge and literature on instructional technology integration in “developing” and/or low-income countries like Zimbabwe.     

Principals’ qualifications in special education and students with and at risk for disabilities’ reading achievement growth in kindergarten

To effectively teach reading to students with and at risk for disabilities, special and general education teachers depend on principals who support effective specialized reading instruction. Yet, extant research indicates that principals have inadequate preparation for supporting specialized instruction. To address this issue, scholars have recommended that leader preparation programs should provide prospective leaders with more preparation in special education. However, research to date provides limited indications of whether more preparation would in fact support more effective leadership for special education. Therefore, we examined data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study to determine whether principals’ qualifications in special education and in reading predicted struggling readers’ and students with disabilities’ reading achievement growth in kindergarten. We found no effects; principals’ coursework in special education, coursework in reading, prior experiences as a special education teacher, and experience in school leadership did not predict reading achievement growth among students with or at-risk for disabilities.     

DO SCHOOLS MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR STUDENTS’ ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDES AND AWARENESS? EVIDENCE FROM PISA 2006

The environmental agenda is gaining momentum as an international policy issue. This is reflected in an increase in environmental education research focussing on children’s awareness and attitudes toward the environment. In this study, we focused on this issue from a school effectiveness perspective and evaluated (a) which student characteristics predict environmental attitudes and awareness, (b) whether schools make a difference in their students’ environmental attitudes and awareness and (c) if school effects are different for students with varying levels of science ability. The cross-sectional Flemish data of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment 2006 (4,999 students in 156 schools) were re-analysed using a multivariate multilevel model to address these issues. Results show that gender, immigrant status, socioeconomic status and educational track are important in explaining students’ environmental attitudes and awareness. Furthermore, the results show that schools do matter; schools in which science is taught in a more hands-on manner are associated with higher student environmental awareness whilst environmental learning activities are associated with more pro-environmental attitudes amongst students. After controlling for student characteristics, these school effects do not differ between more science-literate children and their less or average science-literate peers.     

Poststructural feminist pedagogy in English instruction of vocational-and-technical education

The purpose of this study was to develop a poststructural feminist pedagogical model and to investigate whether vocational-and-technical college students receiving poststructural feminist instruction would exhibit better learning achievement and critical thinking ability, and express greater satisfaction with their classes than those receiving traditional instruction. In applying a poststructural feminist model, the researchers intended to help both the teacher and students work together to overcome the estrangement and alienation that have long been the norm in the contemporary Chinese education system. The research results show that the poststructural feminist pedagogy had a positive effect upon the participants in the experimental group. Several conclusions are elicited from the study. First, in the English language achievement post-test, the participants receiving the poststructural feminist instruction significantly outperformed those receiving the traditional banking instruction in terms of listening, vocabulary, grammar, and reading. Second, in the critical thinking ability post-test, the participants significantly outperformed those receiving the traditional banking instruction in terms of length, focus, content, organization, and style. Third, in regard to the students’ satisfaction, it was clearly shown that the students who received the instruction informed by poststructural feminist pedagogy expressed significantly greater satisfaction than those who had received traditional banking instruction in terms of instructional objective, teaching method/materials, teacher quality, class environment, and assessment.     

Technologies in contexts:: implications for teacher education

This paper discusses the interaction among school and university contexts, instruction, and individual practice that occurs as telecommunications technology is integrated into teacher education programs. Data from a series of studies of such integration within one university are presented and discussed. A model to guide future research is proposed.     

Teachers and differentiated instruction: exploring differentiation practices to address student diversity

Given the increasing diversity of the student body, teachers are called to appropriately address students’ various learning needs by means of differentiated instruction (DI). However, empirical research has yielded mixed evidence on teachers’ reported use of DI. Using nationally representative data from the National Educational Panel Study in Germany, this article aimed to explore German (as native language) and Mathematics teachers’ use of DI practices. In addition, this study took into consideration contextual factors, such as school track, and investigated the impact of teachers’ constructivist beliefs on their DI implementation. Results from a mixed analysis of covariance indicated that teachers occasionally implement DI practices. Furthermore, between‐subject effects reported differences across school tracks. It appears that advanced secondary school teachers implement less often DI practices. The covariate of teachers’ constructivist beliefs was also positively linked to overall teachers’ implementation of DI. Implications of the results, as well as further lines of research are discussed.     

The Triple Option … For Women in Sport

This paper reviews the current research on teacher effectiveness as it applies to physical education in the areas of (a) teacher expectations, (b) classroom management and organization, (c) a supportive learning environment, (d) active teaching, task-oriented, or direct instruction, (e) curriculum pacing, (f) student opportunity to learn, including allocated, engaged, and academic learning time, (g) teaching to mastery, and (h) grade-level differences. Some problems in applying the research to actual school situations are presented, along with implications for physical education.     

When a Bilingual Child Describes Living Things: An Analysis of Conceptual Understandings from a Language Perspective

With increasing numbers of students learning science through a second language in many school contexts, there is a need for research to focus on the impact language has on students’ understanding of science concepts. Like other countries, Brunei has adopted a bilingual system of education that incorporates two languages in imparting its curriculum. For the first three years of school, Brunei children are taught in Malay and then for the remainder of their education, instruction is in English. This research is concerned with the influence that this bilingual education system has on children’s learning of science. The purpose was to document the patterns of Brunei students’ developing understandings of the concepts of living and non-living things and examine the impact in the change in language as the medium of instruction. A cross-sectional case study design was used in one primary school. Data collection included an interview (n = 75), which consisted of forced-response and semi-structured interview questions, a categorisation task and classroom observation. Data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results indicate that the transition from Malay to English as the language of instruction from Primary 4 onwards restricted the students’ ability to express their understandings about living things, to discuss related scientific concepts and to interpret and analyse scientific questions. From a social constructivist perspective these language factors will potentially impact on the students’ cognitive development by limiting the expected growth of the students’ understandings of the concepts of living and non-living things. A paper accepted by Research in Science Education, August, 2006.     

Transitions and re-engagement through second chance education

The issue of school non-completion continues to be a matter of concern for policy makers and practitioners in Australia today. Despite the efforts of governments and school systems to improve participation and retention rates, often one in three students drop out of school before completing Year 12. Major factors influence non-completion and militate against young people remaining at school. Findings from recent research indicate that some non-completers choose to re-enter education through second chance programs outside the school environment. The argument for second chance education presented in this paper is developed within the context of the ‘risk’ society and in relation to recent theories of youth transitions.     

What has happened to intuition in science education?

Intuition was one of the four key themes for science education that emerged from the Woods Hole Conference in 1957. Despite the considerable influence of this conference on a generation of curriculum projects the intuition theme was almost completely ignored. Recent studies of intuition, including an analysis of Nobel laureates' views of scientific intuition, are considered. This enables several conceptions of the nature and role of intuition in science to be defined, and its importance to be assessed. The assumption that it is also important in science education is examined by considering conditions in science teaching and learning that may encourage intuitive thinking in the light of current research developments that could lead to a new agenda for school science. Specializations: science and technology curriculum, environmental education, educational disadvantage. Specializations: phenomenography, ways of knowing, higher education—teaching and learning.     

Institute–industry interoperation model: an industry-oriented engineering education strategy in China

Engineering education has been well implemented in the majority of developed countries such as the USA, Germany, and the United Kingdom so that the gap between engineering science and engineering practice is greatly bridged. However, in China, the gap still exists, and some attempts by Chinese government, even though having made obvious progress, are not very satisfactory yet. Thus, the research on feasible engineering education strategy has drawn our pressing concerns. Based on the analyses of participants’ motivation and value chain, an evolutionary model of institute–industry interoperation is proposed, which includes isolated stage, orienting stage, interacting stage, interoperating stage, and convergence stage. The case of one school of software in China is analyzed to support and clarify this model. This institute–industry interoperation model is showing considerable vitality in the development of engineering education, and it can present reference value not only to China but to other countries as well.     

A motivational model of persistence in science education: A self-determination theory approach

The purpose of this study was to propose and test a motivational model of persistence in science education. The model posits that science teachers’ support of students’ autonomy positively influences students’ self-perceptions of autonomy and competence. These self-perceptions, in turn, have a positive impact on students’ self-determined motivation toward science which leads to their intentions to pursue science education and eventually work in a scientific domain. This model was tested with high school students (n=728). Results from univariate analyses of variance and from structural equation modeling analyses (with LISREL) were found to support the proposed model. In addition, a direct link was obtained between perceptions of competence and intentions to pursue a science education, indicating that higher levels of perceived competence predicted higher levels of persistence intentions. The present findings support Self-Determination Theory and open the way to future research from a motivational approach in this area.