Crossing cultures: US student teacher observations of pedagogy,learning, and practice in Plymouth,UK schools

International internships can assist pre-service teachers in beginning to build a repository of successful strategies for learning and becoming members of the global educational community. These include school settings and scheduling; use of curriculum and resources; instructional skills and strategies, including lesson planning; and classroom management, including management of student behaviours. The current study examines the reflections of 56 undergraduate teacher education students from Florida who took part in a three-week international internship in Plymouth, UK. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the areas in which the experience had an impact on their pedagogical awareness. Specifically, the research question was: ‘How does the short-term study abroad internship impact pre-service teachers' perceptions or understanding of: professional school relationships, and classroom management and structure?'     

Beginning literacy: links among teacher knowledge, teacher practice, and student learning

Although the importance of phonological awareness has been discussed widely in the research literature, the concept is not well understood by many classroom teachers. In the study described here, we worked with groups of kindergarten and first-grade teachers (the experimental group) during a 2-week summer institute and throughout the school year. We shared with them research about learning disabilities and effective instruction, stressing the importance of explicit instruction in phonological and orthographic awareness. We followed the experimental group and a control group into their classrooms for a year, assessing teachers' classroom practices and their students' (n = 779) learning. The study yielded three major findings: We can deepen teachers' own knowledge of the role of phonological and orthographic information in literacy instruction; teachers can use that knowledge to change classroom practice; and changes in teacher knowledge and classroom practice can improve student learning.     

Trajectories in teacher education: Recognising prior learning in practice

This article analyses the trajectories into teacher education of a group of child minders who are studying to become pre-school teachers. The specific focus is what impact their prior experiences and learning from pre-school have on their trajectories, and how these experiences and learning are recognised in the first year of teacher education. A situated learning perspective is applied, with a focus on participation and trajectories in the two communities of practice in which teacher education is situated – the university and the pre-school. The data consist of transcribed interviews with ten student teachers, and additional data are gathered from stakeholders in the program. The results show that prior experiences and learning are given implicit and indirect recognition. In the practice of the pre-school, the trajectory means a shift in identity, from child minder to student teacher and pre-school teacher. In the practice of the university, prior experiences and learning help students in their trajectories from peripheral to fuller participation.     

Policy,practice, and reconversion in Spanish educational reform: teaching and teacher education in physical education

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, reform of the Spanish education system has been justified by reformists as a response to the social and economic changes that have occurred in Spanish society since the democratic transition in the 1970s. Consolidation of democracy, development of technology and economic convergence with the advanced nations of Europe have been seen as the major challenges for educational reform. Restructuring and legitimation processes derived from the requirements of the new reform have been conceptualized as a policy of reconversion, the main purpose of which is to maintain, or achieve, a strong competitive position in the international market. In this paper, conceptualizing educational reform as a reconversion process will allow us to link aspects of the new curriculum (content, pedagogy and assessment), school organization, teaching and teacher education in physical education with wider economic, social and cultural influences and explore the tensions and conflicts between policy and practice in PE in schools. The paper will argue that there is a widening gap between the interests of progressive educationalists and the direction of market‐driven education reform.     

Becoming a tertiary teacher: learning in communities of practice

This paper discusses issues arising from three case studies of the ways people have become tertiary teachers in a polytechnic, a wananga (Maori tertiary institution) and a university in New Zealand. Despite institutional differences, the teachers gained most of their teaching knowledge and skills on the job, learning informally and experientially, and much less through engaging with formal courses or centrally organized educational development activities. Tertiary teachers belong to groupings such as their institution, discipline, department or teaching team that can be seen as communities of practice, and it is in those contexts that their working knowledge and identities as teachers develop. A communities of practice framework in three parts is proposed for supporting and strengthening tertiary teachers’ workplace learning and educational development.     

Professional re-accreditation: constructing educational policy for career-long teacher professional learning

Competence as a measure of ‘fitness to practice’ and its evaluation through mechanisms of personal performance review, has led to the introduction of systems in a number of professions which link appraisal to the maintenance of professional registration (variously referred to as re-validation, re-certification, re-accreditation, etc.). This shift towards the requirement to actively maintain registration is becoming increasingly common in the teaching profession in many countries too. This paper presents an examination of the enactment of this global policy trend towards teacher re-accreditation at a national level. Here, we analyse the policy discourse and rhetoric around the introduction of professional re-accreditation of teachers in Scotland, where it is referred to as ‘Professional Update’, and track this through to the preparation of those carrying out interviews for re-accreditation in one of the three local authorities involved in piloting the initiative. In doing this we aim to show the ways in which policy serves to construct teacher subjectivities though processes of appraisal and how policy actors positions themselves and are positioned within these policy-making processes.     

DE-Sovietizing educational systems,learning from past policy and practice

All 21st century societies face the dilemma of reforming educational systems to meet changing social demands. In order to enable new beginnings to be made, this article examines the ending of reform efforts in the former Soviet Union immediately prior to the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Educational policy had followed a shifting course under changing Soviet leadership, much supposed reform consisting of little more than reworked statements of intent. In the second half of the 1980's, more serious attempts were made to raise enrollment of six-year olds, to upgrade instructional materials and teaching quality, and to redesign vocational education. Inadequate facilities and resources, lack of trained personnel, promotion on non-educational grounds, economic hardship and bureaucratic resistance hindered these reforms. As successor states to the Soviet Union — and others — face structural change, knowledge of why certain reforms were previously resisted will help future planning.

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Zusammenfassung Alle Gesellschaften des 21. Jahrhunderts stehen dem Dilemma einer Reform ihrer Bildungssysteme gegenüber, um den sich ändernden sozialen Anforderungen gerecht zu werden. Um neue Anfänge zu ermöglichen, untersucht dieser Artikel das Ende der Reformbemühungen in der früheren Sowjetunion kurz vor Errichtung der Gemeinschaft Unabhängiger Staaten. Die Bildungspolitik war großen Schwankungen unter wechselnder sowjetischer Führung ausgesetzt; viele Reformpläne bestanden aus wenig mehr als aufgearbeiteten Absichten. In der zweiten Hälfte der 80er Jahre wurden ernsthaftere Versuche unternommen, die Einschulungsquoten der Sechsjährigen zu erhöhen, das Unterrichtsmaterial und die Lehrqualität zu verbessern und die berufliche Bildung neu zu gestalten. Unzulängliche Einrichtungen und Ressourcen, ein Mangel an ausgebildetem Personal, Beförderungen nach nicht-pädagogischen Kriterien, wirtschaftliche Engpässe und bürokratischer Widerstand standen diesen Reformen entgegen. Da die Nachfolgestaaten der Sowjetunion — und andere Staaten — strukturellen Veränderungen entgegensehen, wird das Wissen um die Gründe für den vorangegangenen Widerstand gegen gewisse Reformen künftigen Planungen von Nutzen sein.

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Résumé Au siècle prochain, toutes nos sociétés devront faire face au dilemme posé par la réforme des systèmes d'éducation, afin de répondre à l'évolution des exigences sociales. Afin de permettre de nouveaux points de départ, cet article étudie la conclusion des efforts de réforme tentés par l'ancienne Union Soviétique immédiatement avant la création de la Communauté des Etats Indépendants. La politique éducative avait connu un cours changeant sous un gouvernement soviétique instable, de nombreuses réformes attendues se résumant plus ou moins à la modification de déclarations d'intention. Dans la seconde moitié des années 80, des tentatives plus sé rieuses ont été réalisées pour augmenter la scolarisation des enfants de six ans, actualiser le matériel scolaire et la qualité de l'enseignement, et pour remanier la formation professionnelle. Des installations et moyens insuffisants, le manque de personnel formé, l'avancement pour des raisons autres que professionnelles, les importantes difficultés économiques et la résistance bureaucratique ont mis un frein à ces réformes. Du fait que les Etats succédant à l'Union Soviétique — et à d'autres nations réformées — font face aux changements structurels, ils pourront programmer l'avenir, conscients des raisons pour lesquelles certaines réformes ont échoué par le passé.

     

Fostering meaning-oriented learning and deliberate practice in teacher education

Meaning-oriented learning and deliberate practice may be expected to promote student teachers’ continuous professional development. We interviewed twelve expert teacher educators to explore their understanding of these concepts, as well as pedagogies to stimulate them in teacher education. The experts understood deliberate practice in two ways: an enactment conceptualization focusing on pupil learning, and a regulation conceptualization focusing on teacher learning. Pedagogies were operationalized in twelve design principles, which integrated ideas previously scattered in the literature, and added to it with respect to anticipatory reflection, diverse ways of “modeling”, and student teacher agency in creating a powerful learning environment.     

Systematic educational change and teacher skill-building in developed and developing countries: the importance of teacher peer learning groups

Many developed and developing countries are seeking to systematically transform their education processes through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The aim of this paper is to present findings from one aspect of a larger ICT study in a particular location in a developing country, with the specific focus presented here being ICT professional development and impacts. Research methods in the study included teacher and school leader surveys, targeted interviews and also case studies. Findings at a systems level generally indicated insufficient coordination of training and minimal follow-up occurring. In case study situations in which the school leader ensured a schoolwide approach to the professional learning of teachers, ICT was more embedded into student learning processes in classrooms. Considering ICT and other professional learning relevant to education, this paper has relevance for policy developers and school leaders in developed and developing world contexts. The need exists for using coordinated professional development processes, with more centralised ‘one-off’ training supplemented by schools and districts. The establishment of peer learning groups or mentors to support skill-building over time is also needed. Through these ongoing processes, teachers can more effectively make changes in their teaching practices, with potential impacts on student learning.     

How teaching influences learning: Implications for educational researchers,teachers, teacher educators and policy makers

This article is a tribute to Graham Nuthall's contribution to classroom research from his early experimental studies through to his recent work on theory integration. It also explains the potential of the methodology, findings and theory building in our collaborative work to make a substantial positive difference for diverse students. The article explains the significance of, and need for, research linking learning to teaching processes (a scientific realist approach to putting ‘process’, socio-cultural context and theory building into a new process–product paradigm). Findings of student outcomes contrary to educational goals (for example, teaching designed to enhance appreciation of cultural differences triggering racist abuse) signal the importance of research that explains the impact of teaching on learner outcomes. The article also foreshadows the implications of the work that Graham and I did for teaching, teacher education, research and educational policy. The article concludes with Graham's view that the most important contribution his work would make, would be to initial teacher education.     

Hype,hope and ICT in teacher education: a Bernsteinian perspective

This article draws from ethnographic data produced inside mathematics teacher education in Sweden. It explores and makes visible the ongoing process of education during workshops in information and communication technology (ICT) laboratory contexts in which student teachers were working with spreadsheet applications on the computer. The main finding is that, contrary to the intentions to renew and revitalise education, ICT in use seemed to operate as a relay in the reproduction of traditional ways of teaching and learning. However, the investigation is not one of the failures of education to make use of ICT but one that tries to distance itself from the traditional enthusiastic rhetoric, with the ambition to contribute to a more realistic discussion. Bernstein's concept of pedagogical discourse has been used. One education setting has been studied in detail.     

ICT,learning and primary mathematics

A report of a decline in the extra-curricular activities available to the children in a West London junior school is presented. Using interviews with the school staff as evidence, reasons for the decline and its wider implications are discussed.     

Diversity study circles in teacher education practice: An experiential learning project

This paper addresses the dilemma of trying to prepare primarily white preservice teachers for educational arenas in which they will interface with students of colour and many who are socially disadvantaged. This paper describes how diversity study circles can be integrated as integral to education that is multicultural in the development of preservice teachers’ critical self-reflection as a bridge to developing a critical lens for classroom practice and a democratic society.     

Using teacher stories to reveal quality educational practice: An Eastern Cape experience

The University of Fort Hare Distance Education Project set out to improve qualifications of primary teachers in rural and township schools in the Eastern Cape of the Republic of South Africa. At the culmination of an 11-year AUSAid collaboration between the University of Fort Hare and University of South Australia a research project to reveal quality educational practice was undertaken. Using oral histories as the methodology, teacher stories were gathered through a sequence of interviews and classroom observations. This collection of oral histories constitutes the basis for the paper. Its research focus has been the science and mathematics practices of eight teachers who typify the many hundreds who participated in the project. This paper explores the use of oral history as a methodology for documenting quality educational practice.     

ICT and educational (dis)advantage: families,computers and contemporary social and educational inequalities

Because access to new technologies is unequally distributed, there has been considerable debate about the growing gap between the so‐called information‐rich and information‐poor. Such concerns have led to high‐profile information technology policy initiatives in many countries. In Australia, in an attempt to ‘redress the balance between the information rich and poor’ by providing ‘equal access to the World Wide Web’ (Virtual Communities, 2002 Virtual Communities (2002) About us. Available online at: http://www.virtualcommunities. com.au (accessed 18 August 2002)  [Google Scholar]), the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Virtual Communities (a computer/software distributor) and Primus (an Internet provider) in late 1999 formed an alliance to offer relatively inexpensive computer and Internet access to union members in order to make ‘technology affordable for all Australians’ (Virtual Communities, 2002 Virtual Communities (2002) About us. Available online at: http://www.virtualcommunities. com.au (accessed 18 August 2002)  [Google Scholar]). In this paper, we examine four families, one of which had long‐term Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) access, and three of which took advantage of the Virtual Communities offer to get home computer and Internet access for the first time. We examine their engagement with ICT and suggest that previously disadvantaged family members are not particularly advantaged by their access to ICT.