Seeing things differently: teachers' constructions of underachievement

The identity of the underachiever has become synonymous with the stereotypical identity of boys. Teachers know what underachievement looks like: it looks like a boy who is bright, but bored. Evidence from a research study reported here demonstrates that teachers are more likely to select boys as underachievers than girls and that teachers construct underachievement differentially by gender. The consequence is that underachievement in girls is often overlooked or rendered invisible. Underachievement is concerned with potential not lack of ability, while high and low achievement are concerned with performance. It becomes a matter of concern if teachers perceive boys as the vessel of potential and of latent ability, while the high achievements of girls are seen to be about performance, not ability.     

Preservice teachers' attitudes toward inclusion: Early childhood education and elementary education programs

Abstract

Teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion of children with disabilities play a central role in the successful inclusion of these children into general education classrooms. This study examined possible predictors of preservice teachers’ attitudes toward (1) persons with disabilities, and (2) inclusion of children with disabilities into general education classrooms. Participants were students majoring in early childhood education and elementary education. Preservice teachers’ attitudes toward persons with disabilities and inclusion were explained significantly by their personal relationships with persons who have disabilities and the number of courses related to special education/teaching strategies taken. However, preservice teachers’ experiences working with persons who have disabilities was not a significant predictor. Further, the relations between preservice teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion and personal experience variables were mediated by their attitudes toward persons with disabilities. This study provides evidence that more effective, practical experiences and course content related to children with disabilities, inclusion, and teaching strategies need to be provided in teacher education programs to support successful efforts with inclusion. This study also suggests that teacher education programs should strive to improve students’ attitudes toward inclusion, as well as toward persons with disabilities.     

Early childhood teachers' understanding of inclusive education and associated practices: reflections from Greece

This paper focuses on Greek regular and special preschool teachers' understanding of inclusion; their views about the engagement of children with disabilities in typical day routines/activities; and their preferred strategies for facilitating children's engagement in classroom activities. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 77 teachers (45 regular and 32 special educators) drawn from 47 preschool mainstream settings in Greece. The analysis revealed that teachers hold conflicting and restrictive beliefs about inclusive education. Further, the teachers' accounts indicated that most of the children with disabilities were experiencing significant difficulties in their engagement during free-play as well as structured/semi-structured activities. Lastly, teachers identified a range of strategies that they deployed for promoting children's involvement in classroom activities. The paper concludes by highlighting the need to shift away from a narrow individualistic-deficit assumption of disability towards a socio-constructivist conceptualisation of ‘diversity’ and the establishment of genuinely inclusive school cultures.     

A naturalistic investigation of experienced teachers' and student teachers' instructional practices

A naturalistic investigation was conducted to describe the relationships among participation structures, reading activities, student engagement, and subsequent student achievement in reading lessons taught by student teachers (STs) and experienced teachers (ETs). Data sources included classroom observations, interviews with the participants, student teachers' journals, and students' comprehension test results. The teachers in one ST/ET dyad had similar participation structures; however, their subsequent student engagement and student achievement were different. While the participation structures of the second dyad differed, student engagement and achievement were alike. A major factor in explaining the differences was each student teacher's conception of her professional role.     

An investigation of student teachers' knowledge about their own learning

Twenty-nine student teachers from a large metropolitan university in Queensland, Australia were interviewed at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of a year-long graduate diploma in education to investigate the nature of their knowledge about learning and changes in such knowledge over the year. At Time 1 and Time 2 most students thought learning should be meaningful and preferred to use transformative learning approaches. However, students indicated a willingness to engage in reproductive approaches to learning if the content to be learned was uninteresting, workloads were high, or assessment was examination-focussed. The results also indicated that while many students did not experience significant changes in their knowledge about learning over the year, they believed that transformative learning had become more of a focus for them. Investigating student teachers' knowledge about learning has implications for effective learning in teacher education programs.     

Profiling teachers' continuing professional development and the relation with their beliefs about learning and teaching

This exploratory study investigates the relationship between teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) and their beliefs about learning and teaching, in a Dutch secondary education context. Two hundred sixty teachers participated in a survey focused on teachers' updating, reflective, and collaborative activities, as well as their student- and subject matter-oriented beliefs. A cluster analysis produced three distinctive CPD profiles, reflecting relatively low, medium, and high participation in the three CPD activities. The greater teachers' participation in CPD, the more student oriented those teachers are. These findings have strong implications for fostering teachers' participation in CPD and encouraging their student orientation.     

Early years,low status? Early years teachers' perceptions of their occupational status

Using survey and interview data from the Teacher Status Project, this paper explores early years teachers' sense of status and compares it with primary and secondary teachers' perceived status. If, as Hoyle has suggested, working with children is an intractable barrier to enhanced status in the eyes of the public, early years teachers are faced with the greatest challenge. At the same time, their closer links with parents and community affords them more opportunity to enhance the esteem in which they are held through the way that they do their work. The data seem to support this view, but it is argued that whilst curriculum guidance, and the recognition of the Foundation Stage have enhanced these teachers' sense of status in the public eye, the effects of the ten‐year strategy could undermine this progress unless an emphasis is placed on the teaching, pedagogical element of their specialist expertise.     

Assessing teachers' attitude toward the handicapped: A methodological investigation

The attitude of 48 pre- and in-service regular and special educators toward teaching the special needs pupil was assessed physiologically via changes in pulse and skin temperature and with self-report. The self-report data were contradicted by the physiological evidence. Statistically significant differences were not observed among the four groups on the self-report measure; however, the physiological index of change in mean pulse rate indicated that preservice regular and special educators, in comparison to experienced teachers, perceived teaching the handicapped child to be significantly more stressful. The lack of agreement between the two assessment procedures was interpreted as suggesting that one should consider cautiously the results of investigations that assess attitude toward the handicapped only by means of self-report.     

'There's no way this kid's retarded': teachers' optimistic constructions of students' ability

Historical research in the field of autism has suggested that judgements regarding the ability of students with autism should be made carefully, taking into consideration the person with autism's difficulty with communication, movement and performance in general. Although the historical literature has urged professionals to proceed with caution regarding judgements about ability, a haphazard understanding of people with autism as retarded prevails. This qualitative study analyses the experiences of four teachers who, within the context of the inclusive classroom, resist interpreting non-verbal students with autism as mentally retarded and seek to form a new understanding of ability. The following themes will be discussed: (1) finding situations where students demonstrate competence, (2) rethinking performance and understanding, and (3) expecting struggles.     

Early childhood teachers' affectionate behavior: Differential expression to female children,male children,and groups of children

This study examined differences in (1) the amount of affectionate behavior that early childhood teachers expressed to individuals versus groups of children and (2) the amount of affection that teachers expressed to female and male children. Data were collected by conducting naturalistic observations of 47 female teachers in six day care centers. Teachers' affectionate behavior and the types of recipients were recorded. The behaviors observed were smiling, affectionate words, active affectionate physical contact, and passive affectionate physical contact. The data were converted to percentages and subjected to parametric multivariate analyses of variance. The teachers were found to express more affection to female children than to male children and more affection to individual children than to groups of children. Implications for teacher training and early childhood programs are discussed.     

高职教师继续教育问题思考的探讨

社会发展的越来越快,科技进步的越来越迅速,人们对高职教育的关注越来越显著,因此,国家在高职教育上的投入也越来越多。在高职教育过程中,高职教师的综合素质对学生培养的影响非常严重,所以,加强高职教师继续教育是很有必要的[1]。本为以继续教育为中心,剖析当前高职教师继续教育过程中存在的相应问题,在寻找解决方案的同时,还可以提高高职院校教师的教学质量。     

A comparative study: English and Turkish teachers' conceptions of their professional responsibility

This paper discusses some of the findings pertaining to how teachers see their work, produced by a comparative study of 120 English and 120 Turkish primary school teachers. The sample was drawn from schools in four different types of matched catchment areas—rural, inner city, suburban and affluent suburban—in Leicestershire. England, and in Erzurum, Turkey. Four major dimensions of difference between the two national contexts are identified in terms of the range of professional activities undertaken, the ambiguity of relative importance to teachers of the process as against the products of learning. Against a background of contemporary policy changes which seem likely to effect different teaching and learning activities in the two countries, the paper argues that attempts to change teachers' practice without due regard to those conceptions of professional responsibility which are deeply rooted in particular national traditions, as well as more general classroom realities, will result in a lowering of morale and decreased effectiveness.     

Early childhood teachers' views of nature of science: The influence of intellectual levels,cultural values,and explicit reflective teaching

This study tracked the influence of explicit reflective instructional methods on cultural values, ethical and intellectual development, and the relationship of these with preservice teachers' views of nature of science (NOS). The researchers used the Views of Nature of Science Form B (VNOS B) to describe NOS views, the Learning Context Questionnaire (LCQ) to classify preservice teachers' ethical and intellectual positions using Perry's scheme, and the Schwartz Values Inventory (SVI) to measure preservice teachers' cultural values. The interventions took place in two concurrent courses: a science methods course, and a foundations of early childhood course. The science methods course explicitly emphasized NOS throughout the semester, and the foundations of early childhood course reinforced these ideas through cultural activities that stressed empirical evidence. Analysis of data showed relationships between preservice teachers' Perry positions and responses on the VNOS B with those at higher positions exhibiting more informed NOS views. Relationships between preservice teachers' NOS views and their cultural values were identified, such as those at the dualism position holding achievement more highly for scientists than those at other Perry positions. The values preservice teachers held personally were different from those they held as important for scientists. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 748–770, 2008     

Early life stress and behavior problems in early childhood: Investigating the contributions of child temperament and executive functions to resilience

This preregistered study examined whether child temperament and executive functions moderated the longitudinal association between early life stress (ELS) and behavior problems. In a Dutch population-based cohort (n = 2803), parents reported on multiple stressors (age 0–6 years), child temperament (age 5), and executive functions (age 4), and teachers rated child internalizing and externalizing problems (age 7). Results showed that greater ELS was related to higher levels of internalizing and externalizing problems, with betas reflecting small effects. Lower surgency buffered the positive association of ELS with externalizing problems, while better shifting capacities weakened the positive association between ELS and internalizing problems. Other child characteristics did not act as moderators. Findings underscore the importance of examining multiple protective factors simultaneously.     

The good behavior game: An investigation of teachers' acceptance

Although shown to be effective, group contingency procedures have been assessed for their acceptability by individuals responsible for implementation in only one empirical study to date (Elliott, Turco, & Gresham, 1987). The present investigation assessed teachers' acceptance of the Good Behavior Game (GBG), an interdependent type of group contingency, in two analogue studies. The GBG was found to be as acceptable as individually based procedures (positive reinforcement and response cost). Neither age of target children, severity of behavior problem, nor the stated rationale for the procedure affected teachers' ratings of acceptability. A positive relationship was found between acceptability and usage for positive reinforcement and the GBG, and between acceptability and effectiveness for all procedures. The results of the present investigations are compared to those of other studies of intervention acceptability.     

Improving early childhood teacher education: Preservice teachers' beliefs about inclusion

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe early childhood preservice teachers’ beliefs about the inclusion of children with special needs in early childhood settings. Nineteen female undergraduate early childhood education preservice teachers participated in one of five focus groups. Students were divided into three groups based on the courses they were enrolled in or had completed: Beginner (sophomore and junior courses), Intermediate (senior courses), and Advanced (student teaching). Additionally, 6 of the 19 students participated in individual interviews. Data analysis resulted in themes related to students’ beliefs and philosophies of inclusion, as well as their thoughts concerning practice in inclusive programs. This paper describes students’ beliefs within each group and compares responses across the different groups. Implications are discussed in relation to teacher education programs and directions for future research.     

Assessing Thai early childhood teachers' knowledge of inclusive education

An ever-increasing number of children with and without disabilities are attending early childhood programmes and learning together. Early childhood inclusion considers all children with and without disabilities, and their families as full members of the early childhood community. Although many early childhood teachers accept the educational rights of children with disabilities and the core principle of inclusion – that early childhood learning programmes should provide for the needs of all the children in their centres, regardless of ability and disability, there remain significant barriers in terms of teacher professional knowledge in achieving these goals. In this article, we report a study on Thai preschool teachers' knowledge of inclusive early childhood education. Quantitative data obtained through a questionnaire were supplemented by teacher interviews. Both the quantitative and qualitative data focused on the teachers' assessment of their professional knowledge. Findings from this study can inform effective professional development programmes in preparing early childhood teachers for successful inclusive practices.     

高校青年教师的生存压力与人生信仰状况的调查报告

本文通过对武汉市11所高校的调查访谈发现,在社会转型期,青年教师的生存压力与其人生信仰存在较大的相关性。随着经济压力、工作压力和多重精神压力的增大,青年教师的信仰也日趋多样化、自我化、世俗化,其中社会发展满意度对社会信仰、物质生活压力对金钱崇拜、精神压力程度对世俗生命信仰都具有显著的正向预测作用。     

Classroom diversity and teachers' perspectives of their workplace

The diverse and heterogeneous classroom is considered one of the best vehicles for providing both effective education and equal opportunity to students of diverse sociocultural backgrounds and academic abilities. This study explores the impact of the social and academic diversity of the class on teachers' perspectives about their schools as a workplace. Data gathered from an anonymous questionnaire administered to all secondary-school teachers in a medium-size industrial city in lsrael indicate that classroom diversity is correlated negatively with the average academic ability of the classroom, and positively with class size and frequent disciplinary problems. Findings also show that less experienced teachers are more likely to be assigned to diverse classrooms. The study suggests that the effects of classroom diversity on teachers' perspectives of their workplaces are strong and significant. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the University Council of Educational Administration, Minneapolis, 1992. The authors acknowledge the comments and assistance of Audrey Addi. This research was supported by the Department of Education, City of Petach Tikvah, Israel.